Yamikumo, the Black Rabbit
by Dire Kumori
Summary: All men are not created equal. This is a simple truth Izuku has known ever since he first realized what it meant to have a quirk like his; one that forces him to consume human flesh to survive. Katsuki witnesses something that changes the way he sees himself forever, but even with the guilt for causing Izuku's 'death' looming over him he still strives for the top. [Tokyo Ghoul AU]
1. Prologue

All men are not created equal. In a world where eighty percent of the population has superpowers - quirks - the twenty percent without might as well be considered disabled. Those who can't lift cars, or fly, or breathe fire, or walk on water are the minority, and if not harassed or put down for their inability then they're to be - even worse - pitied.

Midoriya Izuku, however, has learned there are worse things than being born quirkless.

He learns when, at the age of four, the doctor who took his X-rays tells him that he can never let anyone know about his quirk with the same sort of grave seriousness he might use if he were delivering a death sentence to any other patient. Izuku doesn't understand why his mother looks so sad, but looking back, he'll think that he should have figured it out much sooner.

He learns when he falls - is pushed - out of a tree in the second grade and breaks his leg, only to have it heal in a matter of hours. His mother pulls him out of school for a week anyway, and when he comes back she makes him wear a cast he doesn't need for one week more. He asks why he can't just say he has a healing quirk. His mother says it's safer this way.

He learns when he looks in the mirror one morning and sees a strange thing staring back at him, with a bizarre black eye full of glowing veins spider-webbing out from a blood red iris in the center. His mother doesn't cut his hair as often any more, and brushes it so it falls over one side of his face. Over the strange eye.

He learns when he accidentally overhears his mother sobbing into the phone late one evening, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tells the person on the other end about her child's 'monstrous' quirk.

He learns when he learns why he and his mother never eat out, like the other families do, and most of his meals are delivered by the doctor who X-rayed his foot when he was four, all of them wrapped up in brown paper and hidden in the back of the fridge, behind his mom's meals. He vomits uncontrollably when it hits him, and for several weeks after he stops eating altogether. Eventually, the hunger becomes too much and he starts eating again, tears running down his cheeks as he takes tiny bites of his first meal in nearly a month.

He learns when he learns exactly what the dark red 'juice' his mother has him drink every morning is.

Many quirks are dangerous. They can be used to hurt, or even kill people. There are schools, institutions, set up to train people in the use of their quirks so that they can always control them. Lots of people use their quirks for good things. Some even become Heroes, using their quirks only to hurt criminals and dangerous villains.

But what about those whose quirks are - by their very nature - evil? Those who hurt others merely by existing?

Izuku wonders about that as he lays awake one night, listening to his mother sobbing. She thinks he's asleep. She never cries when she knows he's awake.

' _If only I didn't exist_ ,' he thinks, not for the first time.

Nobody at his school knows he has a quirk. His quirk is too dangerous to tell others about. If they knew, he'd be taken away, or so his mother believes. The other kids make fun of him. They push him around, call him names, even try to hurt him. The worst of them is his former best friend, Bakugou Katsuki. _Kaachan_. Sometimes it gets bad enough that he wants to tell them. Wants to scream at the top of his lungs, ' _You're wrong! I have a quirk! A quirk as strong as any of yours! I could kill you all in an instant, rip out your guts, drink your blood_ -'

Then he realizes where his thoughts are going and feels sick. He hopes nobody ever finds out.

One day he asks his mother if there's any way to get rid of a quirk. She stares at him in shock, tears welling in her eyes, before she wraps him in a tight hug, burying her face in his hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish things were different..."

She dissolves into a mantra of half-formed apologies and blubbering, and Izuku understands. The world isn't fair.

He would have had a twin, his mother tells him late one evening, after she's had just a little too much wine. She and his father had a name picked out; Mikumo. But something happened while they were in the womb, and Izuku ended up 'absorbing' his brother. Looking back, that might have been the first manifestation of his quirk.

To Izuku, this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. The final shred of evidence he needs. It's one thing to eat complete strangers, delivered to his doorstep in brown, paper packages by a doctor with access to all the corpses he could ever need, but to cannibalize his own brother? His twin?

Is this the reason his father isn't around anymore? Because his child is a monster?

The next day at school, he gathers up all his books, packs up his extra uniforms. He doesn't want to make his teachers have to clean up all of his stuff when he's gone.

The bullies are as vicious and cruel as ever, but somehow Izuku finds their words don't cut as deeply as they used to. Maybe because he knows he won't have to put up with them much more. He goes through the school day on autopilot, students and teachers little more than things in his peripheral vision that move and make noise. When the history teacher calls on him to answer a question it takes her three tries to get his attention. He only responds when one of his classmates reaches over and thumps him on the back of his head. Annoyed, the teacher says if he's not going to pay attention he might as well not even bother staying for the rest of class.

With a shrug, Izuku gets up and walks out of the classroom, ignoring the disbelieving stares of the teacher and his classmates on his back.

Soon enough a student is sent to bring him back to class. It's just Izuku's luck that the student sent after him turns out to be Kacchan.

"What the hell is your problem!?" Katsuki growls when he grabs Izuku by the back of his uniform and harshly spins him around. "You think you're too good to sit through class with the rest of us? Huh!?"

Izuku has no idea where _that_ came from, but he doesn't have the energy to refute it. In a few more hours, it won't matter anyway.

He's snapped out of his musings when a small explosion suddenly goes off in front of his face. It's not close enough to do any real damage, but he can still feel the stinging heat on his skin and his ears ring as he lurches back and hits the wall behind him. Even if he knows the burns would heal in a matter of hours, sometimes not even that long, he's scared of the pain.

Katsuki laughs at him, jeering at his timidness, at his fear, at the tears welling up in his eyes, at the fact that he can't - as far as Katsuki knows - do anything to stop him.

"You're so pathetic," Katsuki sneers. "Why do you even bother getting up out of bed in the morning? You should do everyone a favor and just disappear!"

With that, Katsuki turns his back and storms back to the classroom, leaving behind a trembling Izuku. He wonders if Katsuki would still say that if he knew what Izuku was planning. Maybe. Maybe not. Izuku has started to accept that he simply doesn't know his childhood friend anymore, can't tell what he's thinking. Selfishly, he can't help wishing someone other than his mother _would_ care, but logically he knows the fewer people who would, the easier this will be.

When everyone leaves school that day, Izuku doesn't. He takes his school bag with all of his books and journals and uniforms and throws it in the trash. He's already going to be making a big enough mess, he doesn't want to make things more difficult for the teachers or staff by making them have to clear out his locker for him when he's gone.

Then he heads up to the roof.

* * *

Katsuki is feeling good as he leaves school that day. He got his test back with a perfect score, as usual. Just because he's not a bookworm doesn't mean he doesn't care about his grades. He has to get high scores to get into U.A. after all. He kicked ass in gym. The teachers even let him get away with using his quirk in the classroom again. With a quirk as awesome as his, it was no wonder.

By the time he's out the front door, he's on cloud nine. He's planning on taking his friend and playing in the woods where they'll act out real life battle scenarios and test out their quirks, far from the eyes of the adults. That _was_ the plan, anyway.

"Whoa, look up there!"

One of his friends - he's not sure which one - is pointing at the roof of the school building. Katsuki turns around, not sure what he's expecting. Maybe a genuine Hero standing dramatically against the backdrop of the sky? Or some villain they can unleash their powers against?

He doesn't expect to see the scrawny form of stupid _Deku_ \- a cruel nickname he has for Izuku - standing near the edge of the roof.

He doesn't expect to see that form suddenly tip over the edge. The fall only lasts a few seconds. They're not close enough to hear the sound of the impact, or even see where he landed. Minutes tick by silently, and still Katsuki hasn't processed the sight.

"Dude..." one of his cronies breathes. "What the fuck? Like, what the _actual_ fuck?"

That pretty much sums up Katsuki's thoughts at the moment. This can't be real. This wouldn't happen. Deku... _Izuku_ would never do that. This has to be some kind of trick, or maybe a terrible dream. Katsuki doesn't realize he's taking a step back towards the school building until someone grabs his arm and tugs him away. He rounds on them and the look on his face must have been pretty damn terrifying because his friend just about pisses his pants.

"Dude," one of the others says, putting their hands up in a disarming gesture, "if the grown ups see us here, they're gonna blame us!"

Realization hits him like a ton of bricks. They're right. He's the one who told Deku to disappear. If anyone sees him near the... the... near _him_ they'll blame Katsuki for his death. It'll go on his record and severely impact his chances of getting into U.A. Even if he does manage to get in after something like this, even if he does manage to become a Hero, that will always be a stain on his record. Nothing about a Hero's life is private. He'll be associated with this forever; he bullied some defenseless, quirkless kid into suicide.

That isn't the kind of rep he wants. It's not the kind of rep the Number One Hero has. He can't let anyone find out. Ever.

Self-loathing leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Running away is a coward's route, but it's the only option he has at the moment.

So he turns and flees, his friends close behind him.

He ignores the voice in the back of his mind whispering ' _murderer_ ,' over and over again.

* * *

Izuku lays there for a long time after the initial impact. He can feel, and that's strange enough at first, but then the pain hits and he's _scared_. His arms and legs are bent at weird angles, and his blood is pooled all around him, even spattered on the wall. He hit the building a few times on the way down.

Luckily - or unluckily, as far as Izuku is concerned - he's eaten recently. Soon enough he feels his skin and muscle begin to stitch itself back together. After about thirty minutes he finds the strength to pull himself up into a semi-sitting position and drag himself to the side of the school building. He leans there, waiting for his bones to fix themselves. It'll be a few hours before he's strong enough to stand up on his own.

It didn't work. He'd hoped but... somehow, he didn't expect to get the outcome he wanted. A few experiments performed at home, in the dead of night when his mother was asleep, already proved that his body is a lot more durable than most people's. He's already broken several pairs of scissors trying to stab himself.

So what to do now? Izuku knows of only one surefire way to die, and he doesn't know how he is going to pull it off. He can't just... not eat. His mother will notice something is up, and even though he doesn't want to live anymore he is still scared of the pain of a slow death.

He could just... leave. Maybe. Would his mother look for him, or would she be relieved he was gone? He isn't sure which one he wants it to be. He knows she deserves better than to be burdened with something like him.

Izuku looks up at the sunset. It's almost nightfall. If his mother is going to come looking for him it will be soon. He has to leave _now_ , if he's going to leave at all.

The next morning, all anyone will find of Izuku will be his school supplies in the dumpster, the shoes he left up on the school rooftop, and the massive bloodstain behind the school building.

* * *

(Author's Note: This is sort of an experiment. The idea's been bouncing around in my head for a little while and even though I have other projects I should be working on I liked it enough to start typing it out. I may not make this one a full 'story,' but rather a few snippets of this alternate universe, but, hey, we'll see where it goes. Right now I'm partial to Izuku's kagune being an ukaku. Specifically, a one-winged ukaku, similar to Touka's. ('Cause they're both rabbits. Get it?) It's not set in stone, however, and if anyone has any suggestions my ears are open.)


	2. Akatani Mikumo, the Origin Story

Two months earlier Izuku wouldn't have thought this, but it was fortunate that his body was so durable. He probably would have died during his first month of living on the streets otherwise.

Hunger clawed at his stomach with iron knives for fingers. It had been weeks since his last meal, and he needed to find something to eat soon before... Before he lost control again. When he was still living at home he never even knew that something like that was possible. Now the knowledge that he could potentially go berserk at any moment hung over his head constantly. There were so many things he didn't know about himself - about his body - that his mother always took care of before.

He didn't actually need to eat all that often, he discovered. About once a month would do it. But if he didn't... not only was the pain unbearable, it could cause him to lose control of himself. That fact, he learned the hard way.

( _Izuku screams and screams and screams when he wakes up in the abandoned tunnel surrounded by the eviscerated corpses of the homeless people who had kindly offered him a safe place to sleep for the night. He screams until he loses his voice and cries until he has no more tears. Had they fought back? Did they die quickly? He doesn't remember much aside from the sensation of his teeth tearing into skin and meat, bones snapping in his jaw, hot blood rushing down his throat_...)

It sickened him that those thoughts didn't make him sick. In fact, he was starting to salivate.

Swallowing thickly, Izuku tried to put his hunger aside as he mentally reviewed the things he had learned about his body since running away.

Number one; for some reason only one of his eyes ever changed. Izuku could never figure that one out. It was always the same eye, the right eye, which he kept it covered by his hair just like his mother had taught him to do. He hadn't spent too much time staring at his reflection in the mirror at home, and even less now that he was homeless, so he hadn't realized that his left eye never changed for the longest time. Now that he thought about it, his mother probably would have pulled him out of school years ago if both of his eyes changed color. He still didn't know what triggered the change, only that it seemed to happen more often when he was hungry.

Number two; although he couldn't eat most human food, he could drink water and coffee. Water was to be expected. Most living things needed water to live. Coffee came as a surprise, and the discovery that it wasn't disgusting to him had come entirely by accident. On a particularly chilly day he'd taken what little money he had to a small cafe where he could sit inside in the warmth while nursing a hot drink. He'd been fully intending to throw the coffee away but as he sat there letting the heat seep into his chilled fingers he'd realized the appearance and aroma of the coffee didn't sicken him. In fact, it smelled _good_. A small test sip had confirmed that, yes, he could drink it without triggering an immediate gag reflex. After downing the whole cup and feeling none of the usual effects of trying to eat human food - nausea, lethargy, weakness - he'd concluded it was pretty safe for him to drink.

Number three; Izuku's quirk - which remained yet unnamed - didn't seem to be any one thing. In fact it seemed to be a grab bag of traits from several different quirks. His senses were sharp. He was incredibly strong and durable. He was fast and had increased reflexes. And he ate humans.

That was the worst part of being on his own. No longer did he have the doctor's carefully wrapped carcasses delivered to his doorstep weekly. Now he had to get his own food. After the first time he blacked out and went on a rampage he thought things would be easier. It wasn't. When the second month rolled around and he felt the familiar pangs of hunger he knew what he would have to do, but he didn't know how he was going to do it. He went to the park, sitting alone on a wooden bench as he watched people walk by, imagining what would happen if he killed any of them.

Would someone hold a funeral for them? Would he leave some kid an orphan? Break somebody's heart? Would they scream as he killed them? Would they fight and struggle to escape as his teeth sank into their flesh? Would their hearts race, causing more blood to spill into his mouth? Would they taste good?

Izuku shook his head, as though to physically dispel the gruesome thoughts. How could he do it? How could he just pick someone and decide that they would die?

But if he didn't, he would die. Or lose control and kill more than just one person. Neither were favorable outcomes.

Kill one person. Minimize the damage.

Refuse to kill. Lose control and kill anyway. Turn it into a slaughter.

Why did he have to be born like this?

Izuku drew his knees up to his chest, crossing his arms and burying his face.

Why did he have to be born like this?

He was so hungry.

* * *

"Hey, brat, you alright?"

Izuku bit down on the inside of his cheek until the coppery tang of his own blood hit his tongue, willing his tears to stop. Slowly, he lifted his head to look at the stranger standing over him. His eyes were red - from tears, not his quirk - and puffy, but even bleary as they were he could see how strange the man standing over him was.

The stranger was tall and thin with sickly, pale skin and a disheveled mop of silvery blue hair. His lips were dry, cracked, uneven as though he'd been chewing on them for long hours, and the skin surrounding his eyes was all wrinkly. Like Izuku, the man wore a hoodie, though this man's was black where Izuku's was green, and he wore his hood up making him look even more eerie than he already did.

"Hello? Kid?" the wrinkly man repeated.

Izuku was quick to wipe his tears.

"I'm fine," he insisted, using the sleeves of the overlarge hoodie he wore to dry his face. "I just got something in my eye."

The wrinkled man looked unconvinced.

"What're you sitting in the park all alone for? Where are your parents?"

It wasn't like Izuku could tell the truth, but he'd never had much reason to lie before. He rarely spoke to anyone aside from homeless people or other runaways. Occasionally cashiers and store owners, when he could scrounge together enough money to buy something.

"My dad left when I was a baby," he said, because that at least was the truth. "And my mom's at home." Also the truth. "I come here by myself a lot." Again, the truth. Izuku didn't like lying.

"Oh. That sucks. Mind if I sit here?"

Izuku didn't see a reason why not. He shook his head and scooted over to make room for the wrinkled man to take a seat next to him. The wrinkled man plopped down next to him, throwing one leg over the other and stretching his arms across the back of the bench.

"So what's your name kid?"

Crap.

Izuku couldn't tell him his real name. He didn't exactly check the news a lot, but what if his mom really was looking for him? What if he told this random guy his name was 'Midoriya Izuku' and he got, 'wait, you mean like the kid from the news who went missing?' and then the wrinkled man called the police and sent Izuku back home?

He tried not to acknowledge that trickle of fear that even if he did say his real name this man wouldn't react at all because his mom wasn't looking for him and hadn't called the police, hadn't filed a missing persons report-

"It's Mikumo," Izuku replied, blurting out the first name to come to mind. The first life he ever took. How morbid.

"Interesting name," the wrinkled man replied, one hand coming up to scratch his neck. Now that he thought about it, Izuku noticed a lot of scratch marks there. Some of them scarred over. "There more to it?"

"...Mom says I'm not supposed to give my name to strangers," Izuku replied. It was a little babyish. He was eleven now, not exactly a little kid, but couldn't think of a good last name on the spot and he needed an excuse. The wrinkled man raised an eyebrow before laughing at him.

"Well alright then. Nice to meetcha, Mikumo."

"Nice to meet you too, uh..."

"Name's Shigaraki," the wrinkled guy replied. "And that's about all you need to know."

Okay, that was fair. After that they just kind of fell into an awkward silence, both watching people in the park without commenting on any of it or saying much of anything to one another. Izuku started to worry about that he'd offended Shigaraki, before switching gears and wondering if this was meant to be one of those 'comfortable silences' characters in novels occasionally had.

If so, that comfortable silence was rudely broken by Izuku's stomach rumbling loudly all of the sudden.

Izuku's face flushed as he noticed Shigaraki shooting him a look out of the corner of his eye. He avoided looking at Shigaraki, eyes on the ground while he wrapped his arms around his cramping stomach, so he didn't notice when Shigaraki reached into the pocket of his hoodie.

"Here."

Izuku looked up, shocked to find Shigaraki holding a candy bar out to him.

"What's that look for? Just take it. At this rate your stomach growling's gonna give me a headache."

Izuku was touched. Really, he was. He couldn't remember the last time someone other than his own mother had treated him with such simple kindness. But...

"I can't," he said, eyes downcast. "I can't eat that. It'll just make me sick."

"Oh, you allergic to chocolate or something? That sucks," Shigaraki mumbled, misunderstanding completely. "Still... you should probably eat something. Your mom starving you or something?"

"No!" Izuku protested a bit too quickly. Shigaraki raised an eyebrow, shooting him an incredulous look and Izuku flinched, eyes going back to the ground. "I-I mean, it's not her fault... It's just... hard getting the kind of food I need to eat..."

Shigaraki was still staring at him. Izuku tried to ignore it. Instead he focused on the people enjoying the park. One especially large man strolled past, lead by a dog on a leash. Izuku bet his flesh would be nice and soft and tasty.

His stomach rumbled again. Shigaraki let out an irritated sigh.

"So, what kind of food do you need to eat?" he asked, fixing Izuku with a hard stare.

Izuku bit the inside of his cheek. He really was a terrible liar, and couldn't come up with any kind of excusable answer to satisfy Shigaraki. So, instead of answering, he just turned his eyes back to the park, specifically to a group of kids playing heroes and villains. For the first time it occurred to him to wonder; did any of the packages the doctor used to deliver to his house come from children?

"Yo, brat, don't you have any manners?" Shigaraki growled, causing Izuku to flinch. "When someone asks a question you should answer it."

"S-sorry, I just, um..." Izuku's eyes flickered between Shigaraki, the ground, and the kids. "I guess I got distracted."

Shigaraki's irritated scowl told him he wasn't accepting that excuse.

"Uh, I have a lot of... food allergies, so my mom has me on this super strict diet."

"Oh, you're one of _those_ kids." When Izuku stared at him in confusion, Shigaraki elaborated, "You have like a million allergies and every health condition in the book, carry an inhaler or epipen everywhere and suck at sports, right?"

"Er, no." Izuku thought that sounded a lot like a television trope. "I-I'm pretty healthy overall, I just have to watch what I eat."

Shigaraki grunted and they went back to people watching.

"I hate that game so much," Shigaraki grunted once a few minutes had passed. "Seriously, don't those brats know any better games to play?"

"...D-didn't you used to play heroes and villains when you were a kid, Shigaraki-san?"

Brows furrowing in irritation, Shigaraki spat, "How old exactly do you think I am!?"

"Uh, th-thirty?"

With an irritated groan, Shigaraki dropped his head into his palm and started scratching at his scalp furiously.

"I'm only fifteen, dammit!" He stopped scratching at his head, only to lower his hand to his throat and start scratching there. "But no, I never played heroes and villains. It's a stupid game. I hate heroes anyway."

Izuku stared at Shigaraki in shock; both at the revelation about his age - the lines on his face added years to his appearance - and at his declaration about heroes.

"I didn't think there was anyone who didn't like Heroes," he said after a long pause. "Except bad guys, I guess."

Shigaraki shrugged noncommittally.

"Let me guess," he scoffed, "you wanna be a Hero when you grow up, right brat?"

Izuku bit his lip.

"I mean, I used to, but not anymore. My quirk is... i-it's better for hurting people than helping them."

He'd never admitted that to anyone before, never spoken to anyone about his quirk before, except his mom, and that he tried to do very rarely because of how it upset her. Shigaraki was giving him a funny look again, but this time Izuku ignored it.

"So what? All heroes hurt people. It's literally their job."

The taste of his own blood in his mouth reminded him of his hunger.

"...I don't want to be a hero like that then."

Shigaraki hummed thoughtfully. Maybe he imagined it, but he thought he saw Shigaraki smile wistfully out of the corner of his eyes. It wasn't kind or comforting. In fact, Shigaraki looked even scarier when he smiled than he did when he was annoyed or bored.

"You're alright kid."

Confused, Izuku turned to Shigaraki with a raised eyebrow, but the shriveled man's eyes were no longer on him. Abruptly he had stood and was now walking away, shoulders slumped and hands buried in his pockets.

* * *

Soon enough the sun started to sink below the horizon and Izuku had to move on from the park. The police regularly walked through the area at night and if they saw him alone the might try to take him home. Even if Shigaraki hadn't noticed, Izuku knew he looked like the runaway he was in his gross clothes that smelled like garbage and ratty shoes that were way too big for him and stuffed with plastic grocery bags to keep them from slipping off.

Putting that aside, he still needed to find a meal. He wandered aimlessly, trying to think of a solution. Maybe... Maybe he could find some bad guys?

It seemed like a simple enough solution, but could he really go and judge strangers like that? Even petty criminals didn't really deserve to be killed for the minor crimes they committed, and it was illegal for people without hero licenses to go chasing after criminals on their own, on top of which he didn't really have any reason to believe he could take down an adult on his own...

"What's with that kid muttering to himself?"

Izuku flinched as he was made aware of the fact that he'd been whispering his thoughts under his breath. Ducking his head, he murmured a quiet apology before hurriedly raising his hood and shuffling away. He'd have to work on keeping his mouth shut when he was anxious. Which was almost always.

Letting his feet carry him wherever they willed, Izuku continued to consider his options as he wandered the city. Maybe he could break into a funeral home or a morgue. The families would probably be sad if they found their deceased relatives' corpses with chunks of flesh taken out of them, but it was better than killing some random person. Or maybe he could look to the homeless again. Yes, it was cruel, but their deaths would be less likely to be investigated thoroughly if the remains were found, and they tended to have higher rates of depression and suicide anyway...

The wafting aroma of something delicious suddenly caught Izuku's attention. His nose twitched as he looked up from the sidewalk and sniffed the air. He'd never smelled anything like it; so rich and succulent, it made his mouth water like it never had before. What was it? Something he could eat? But he thought he could only eat...

Not wasting another moment, Izuku took off in search of the delicious scent.

* * *

Blood dripped from the end of a trembling, blade-like arm. The owner of the arm stood, pale-faced over the lifeless form of a young woman. Her head lolled to the side at an unnatural angle, held to the rest of her body only by a few stringy scraps of flesh. The blood still hadn't stopped spurting from the wound.

Fuck.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

She was just supposed to hand over the money.

She wasn't supposed to try to fight back.

She wasn't supposed to di-

At the sound of a soft gasp the murderer's heart leaped into his throat and he whirled around, finding himself face to face with a small kid, likely a middle schooler.

 _Fuck_.

* * *

A corpse. That's what the delicious smell that drew him in was. The nearly decapitated corpse of a woman lying in the middle of a garbage-filled alley between two restaurants. Her blood still warm. Why did it smell so much more delicious than the meals he used to have at home though?

"Fuck!"

As focused as he'd been on the corpse, Izuku had barely registered the presence of the man standing over it. Until that man suddenly rushed him, grabbing a fistful of his hoodie and lifting him off of his feet. Izuku grunted as he was harshly slammed against the slimy brick wall behind him. When he opened his eyes the man's blade-like arm was pointed directly at his face.

"You just had to fucking see me, didn't you kid!?" he growled, eyes wide and tears welling in them. "I really don't wanna hurt a kid, but I c-can't... I can't go to jail for this... You understand, right?"

There was a frantic note in his voice, but Izuku paid it no mind. Instead his brain was working to slowly piece together what should have been obvious from the beginning.

"You... killed her, right? That makes you a bad guy... right?"

Even to Izuku's own ears, his voice sounded unnaturally steady and calm, considering the situation he was in. Although his skin was as hard as iron, his eyes were still vulnerable and the tip of that blade was poised directly over the one eye not hidden by his hair. He should probably have been a little more worried about the situation he found himself in, but his mind was elsewhere.

Something stirred inside of Izuku, a comforting warmth building under the skin on his upper back.

"That means... it's okay for me to kill you..."

That something flowed and bubbled up to the surface of his skin, before exploding out of his back, tearing through his hoodie and bathing the alley with a warm, red glow. The look of panic on the murderer's face gave way to confusion, and then horror. At that moment a gust of wind blew Izuku's hair out of his face, revealing his transformed black and red eye.

"Hey, I can eat you, _right?_ "

The man's scream was cut short as the upper half of his head was suddenly ripped from the rest of his body. His tongue continued to wag even as he died, body falling limply to the ground. Mikumo landed ungracefully on his feet as the man fell, somewhat worried by the fact that killing had been so... easy.

But his hunger came first. Kneeling, he ripped off the man's jacket with his bare hands before lowering his head and sinking his teeth into warm flesh.

* * *

Shigaraki Tomura dug his teeth into his forefinger until he drew blood in order to stop himself from bursting into giggles. He watched from his vantage point on the rooftop as the eleven-year-old he'd run into at the park slaughtered a grown ass man with no effort whatsoever. He'd known that kid was something special since he first noticed him but... damn! And now... Now he was _eating_ the corpse!? Holy shit, he hit the jackpot!

And that thing, that wing... It was a thing of beauty! It flickered like fire and flowed like blood and swayed in the slightest breeze and yet had been solid enough and sharp enough to slice through that man's skull which - like the rest of his skeleton, as well as his blade which was really a bony protrusion - was as hard as steel. Shigaraki itched to lay his fingers against it. If he did that, would the wing decay into dust like everything else he touched or would it burn his hand clean off of his body?

Sensei was going to like little Mikumo. He'd wait until the kid was done eating before he approached him though. Didn't want to get gnawed on himself, after all.

* * *

It was fresh. _That_ was the difference. Not counting that one time he'd blacked out, Izuku had only ever had cold, refrigerated meat before. This was so, _so_ much better! It was soft and warm and practically melted on his tongue. And the organs... Izuku had never eaten organs before, but as he tore through the man's flesh with his bare hands and snapped his ribs to get them out of the way he saw the lungs and heart - still twitching as the body hadn't completely shut down yet - and his instincts drove him to rip them out and stuff them into his mouth.

Izuku moaned as he swallowed. Blood dripped down from the corners of his mouth and stained the front of his worn hoodie, and if he weren't lost in the taste of a fresh kill he might have worried about how he was going to walk around looking like that. As it was, he didn't even notice the sound of approaching footsteps. At least, not until he heard the clattering of a bag full of glass bottles hitting the ground, followed by a horrified shriek.

Head snapping up from his meal, Izuku whirled around found himself looking at an absolutely terrified busboy - greasy haired, face covered in zits, _young_ \- who'd just been taking the trash out to the dumpster behind the restaurant whose logo was stitched onto the front of his shirt. Teeth chattering, beads of sweat welling up on his face, the young man took a step back, then another. His movements were jerky, like he might collapse at any moment. If he wanted to, Izuku could easy overtake him and kill him too, but Izuku remained frozen where he was.

With food in his stomach Izuku had returned to his normal state of mind, and had become paralyzed by fear.

Someone other than his mother knew what he was.

The busboy was going to run to the cops or the nearest Hero and bring them here.

He was going to get arrested. Executed, or worse, locked up to slowly starve to death. They wouldn't continue to feed him human flesh in jail, after all-

"No you don't."

Both the busboy's and Izuku's eyes widened in shock as Shigaraki suddenly appeared in the alley, an eerie grin on his face. He stood behind the busboy, one hand closed around his throat. From where his fingers met skin tiny cracks started to appear, slowly at first, and then wider and wider. Soon the busboy's body was crumbling into dust.

The whole time Izuku watched in horror, and Shigaraki smiled.

"Can't have him blabbing," Shigaraki said as the last of the busboy crumbled away. Raising one finger to his mouth in a 'shushing' motion, he continued, "It would be annoying if he were to tell somebody about this, right?"

Izuku flinched as Shigaraki suddenly came closer, hand outstretched. He hesitated a brief moment as Izuku squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for pain that never came. Offering Izuku a gentle smile - never mind the fact that he couldn't see it - Shigaraki knelt before him and laid his hand on the half-eaten corpse.

"Leaving DNA evidence is risky," Shigaraki explained as the body began to decay. Prompted by his surprisingly gentle tone, Izuku opened his eyes, shocked to find a second corpse reduced to dust. "Police can find people based on teeth marks and saliva, you know?"

Meeting Shigaraki's eyes, Izuku asked, "You're... helping me?"

He tried not to recoil as Shigaraki grinned at him.

"Why not? Everyone's gotta eat, right?"

"But I..." He trailed off, averting his eyes out of shame. "I eat _people_. That's... It's evil, isn't it? Shouldn't you be disgusted?"

Shigaraki didn't seem at all perturbed.

"So? Not your fault. And a little kid like you shouldn't be on his own." Shigaraki raised one of his hands, fingers twitching, in show. "'Sides, you saw what I can do, right? Not everyone gets a 'pretty' quirk like those 'heroes' the masses love to fawn over. There are plenty of people like you and me, kid. You're not the only monster out there."

Others like them? People who could kill with a touch? People who had to kill to survive even?

Shigaraki's lipless mouth split his face in two as he grinned.

"So, kid, why don't you come with me? I can introduce you to more people like us. Wouldn't you like to meet your fellow 'monsters?'"

Honestly, Izuku was scared. He didn't know what to make of Shigaraki, but he seemed like a frightening person. Still... Shigaraki accepted him. Knowing what he was, Shigaraki was offering to help him. Even his own mother couldn't...

A bit hesitantly, Izuku nodded. Shigaraki's eerie grin widened as he offered a hand. Izuku simply stared at it.

"As long as all five fingers don't touch you, you're safe, kid," Shigaraki explained. "C'mon, we should get going before someone else shows up."

Izuku took his hand, noting how careful Shigaraki was not to let his pointer finger touch his skin as he helped him up. Together the two of them made their way through the back alleys, out of sight of any other people.

"You smell like shit kid."

* * *

The very first thing Izuku did when Shigaraki brought him 'home' was take a shower and wash the greasy, tangled mop that was his hair and scrub all the dirt and blood and shit from his skin. Shigaraki was quick to give him new clothes and shoes. Shoes that fit! All black, of course. Then, the training started.

* * *

The stench of blood hung heavy in the air, its taste saturating his tongue, and he could feel his soaked clothes clinging to his body as he tried to force himself to his feet. With each labored breath his chest heaved and saliva and yet more blood dribbled down his lips.

"C'mon, Mikumo-chan, the game isn't over yet. You've barely scratched my HP bar," Shigaraki taunted. Even with that disembodied hand covering his face his voice still rang out, loud and clear.

They'd been fighting for over an hour now, using the dimly lit interior of an abandoned warehouse as their battleground. Though it was less a battle than a one-sided slaughter. Shigaraki was a lot stronger and more skilled than the unsuspecting mugger Izuku - now Mikumo - had taken by surprise, and he still hadn't figured out how to summon his wing at will.

Still, he wasn't going to give up. He was nothing if not stubborn.

The smaller patches of decayed skin were already closing up, but there were larger areas of exposed muscle and blackened blood littering his body that would take more time to heal. Even so, the pain was nothing he couldn't power through. Shigaraki had taught him how to endure pain. On shaky knees, he stood, fixing his opponent with a determined glare.

"So you still have some stamina after all. But do you think you can fight in that state?"

Instead of answering, Mikumo charged ahead. Shigaraki dodged his clumsy attack with ease, but Mikumo didn't give up, throwing a flurry of clumsy punches and kicks. The entire time, Shigaraki was laughing, dodging the blows without breaking a sweat.

"This is my win, Mikumo-chan! Game over!" he snarled as he grabbed at Mikumo's face with all five fingers.

For a moment time seemed to freeze as he took in the sight of Mikumo's startled, bloodied face inches from his outstretched fingers. It was nowhere near his top speed. Mikumo could have easily dodged such an attack, if he wanted to.

Suddenly there was a flash of red and black. The next thing Shigaraki knew he was lying on the ground, his palm and all five fingers pressed to Mikumo's face but Mikumo's knee digging painfully into his diaphragm while both of Mikumo's hands were wrapped around his throat. The glow of Mikumo's wing filled the warehouse and it flickered violently behind him while he stared down at Shigaraki with all the cold fury of a blizzard.

A wide grin split Shigaraki's face as he lowered his hand. Instantly the cracks that had been spreading across Mikumo's face sealed themselves and the black seeped out of his skin.

"That..." he rasped, struggling somewhat to suck in air, "was good. Reckless, but good. Ah, but you c-can let go now..." Actually, it was starting to get difficult to breathe. Damn, the kid had a grip!

And like that, the spell was broken. Mikumo's expression melted and his wing receded into his back, leaving behind a blood-red patch of skin for a few moments before that too faded away.

"S-sorry!" Mikumo said as he hastily released Shigaraki's arm and reeled back.

Some of his blood had gotten spattered all over Shigaraki's shirt. Well, there was a reason they wore mostly black.

"Shut up. Don't apologize," Shigaraki said as he pulled himself into a semi-sitting position. "That shining wing of yours is really something else."

Although he could certainly use it to cut and maim, it hadn't taken Mikumo long to realize that simply having his shining wing - ukaku - summoned could drastically improve his speed and reflexes. It burned energy rather quickly though, and there was the fact that he only seemed able to summon it when he was hungry or frightened.

"Letting me touch your face like that was stupid, but I think it worked out in your favor, _Yamikumo_ -chan," Shigaraki teased as he pulled himself to his feet and brushed the dirt from the front of his outfit. "Let's get cleaned up and get a bite."

Smiling, Mikumo nodded eagerly.

* * *

The bar had a name, but even after six months Mikumo still hadn't memorized it. To him it was just 'the bar' and their secret villain hideout.

Oh, he knew that Shigaraki and the other people who ran and frequented it were villains, but could he really judge them? They'd taken him in, given him a safe place to sleep, clean clothes, somewhere he could get cleaned up... Which was more than a human-eating monster like him deserved.

Honestly, this was probably the only place he did fit in. With the other monsters.

One such monster was standing behind the bar, wiping out the inside of a shot glass with foggy swirls of violet and black in place of solid hands. His entire body seemed to be made of that dark fog, with the exception of his glowing yellow eyes, and yet he somehow managed to form himself into a semi-humanoid shape and squeeze himself into a typical bartender's uniform. The man made of fog didn't look up, even as the front door swung open and two well-known faces approached him.

"Hello, Kurogiri-san," Mikumo said as he took a seat at the bar, changed out of the bloody, ripped clothes he used to practice fighting and into a black hoodie similar to the one Shigaraki sometimes wore and a pair of baggy black jeans. Shigaraki insisted that color suited him best. Shigaraki, still wearing the same - albeit cleaner - clothing, took a seat next to him.

"Hello, Akatani Mikumo." Because Mikumo couldn't go without a last name forever. "How did training go today?"

"I managed to summon my ukaku," Mikumo replied. "After Tomura dissolved my face."

Shigaraki insisted he use his first name.

"I see. It seems to be coming to you more easily these days. I'm sure it won't be long before you are able to summon it at will," Kurogiri commented, sounding somewhat proud. "Now, I'm sure you would like something to eat?"

At the mention of food, Mikumo's stomach rumbled, earning a chuckle from Shigaraki.

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me," he commented before turning to Kurogiri. "What's on the menu today?"

Rather than answering, Kurogiri set down the shot glass and cloth he'd been cleaning it with before disappearing into the back room. When he returned a few minutes later, he was balancing a plate on his hand.

"Traditionally, this would be made with cow's tongue," Kurogiri announced as he set the plate down in front of Mikumo. Three pink, fleshy tongues were arranged artfully on top of a lettuce leaf Mikumo wouldn't eat with a red 'sauce' drizzled over the top. "Though, I made an obvious substitution."

As he spoke, Kurogiri selected a small wine glass as well as one of his 'special' wine bottles. Mikumo watched as he poured the blood into the glass before setting it on the bar next to Mikumo's plate.

"Enjoy."

It was a bit too fancy for Mikumo, but he couldn't really find it in him care all that much. After all, food was food. Picking up his fork and knife, he dug in, oblivious to Shigaraki's tender expression as he watched the child eat his meal of human flesh.

* * *

A whole year had passed. Somehow Katsuki had figured that by now the police would have knocked on his door at least once to ask some questions about his former classmate's disappearance, but they never came. Why? Everyone in their class - in the school, even, teachers included - knew how he treated Deku. With the shoes left conspicuously on the rooftop, it would be an obvious conclusion to draw, and yet...

The response to Deku's death had been pitiful. A bunch of the kids in class had asked 'Izuku who?' like they seriously thought 'Deku' was his real name or something. Fucking idiots.

In the end the only thing Deku really got was a single white flower on his desk and a short eulogy from the teacher before life continued on as normal. In a way, it was eerie. When someone you knew died things were supposed to change, right? But that wasn't the case with Deku.

Most days Katsuki was able to put that kid out of his mind. There wasn't much different about his day to day life, after all, except he no longer had that freckle-faced bull's eye to throw small explosions at or mock mercilessly whenever he started mumbling to himself. The only reason he was thinking about Deku now was because what he'd seen on the television that morning, on the news.

[ _People continue to disappear in Musutafu City in alarming numbers. Bodies discovered missing chunks of flesh and vital organs and, more recently, tongues. Authorities are reopening several closed missing persons cases in conjunction with the murders, including that of young Midoriya Izuku, who was reported missing one year prior. Although evidence seems to suggest suicide, no body was ever found_.]

It was the first Katsuki had ever heard of Deku's body going missing. Fuck. What kind of sick fuck took a body? If it was an animal he probably would've just been gnawed on and left nearby, right? The police would've definitely found him in that case.

Sparks danced along his fingertips as he trudged down the sidewalk. If his 'friend' hadn't stopped him from going back that day, would he have been able to stop whoever or whatever took Deku?

...Whatever. There was no point in dwelling on it now. What was done was done and there was no going back now. There was nothing to do but keep moving forward and pursuing his goal of becoming the number one hero.

And if, in the process, he happened to come across some fucked up villain who liked stealing corpses, well... Nobody could really blame him if he decided to blast the guy to the moon, right?

Not that stupid Deku would care one way or the other, but at least Deku's mother might be able to sleep a little better at night.

Speaking of...

Katsuki slowed to a stop as he found himself in front of the Midoriya household. Today was probably rough on Midoriya Inko, what, with it being about a year since her son's suicide, and considering the news story this morning... Inko had been nice to Katsuki when he was a kid. She was friends with his mom, and he had called her Auntie at one point in time. Would it be appropriate for him to offer her company though? It was his fault her son was...

With an irritated growl, Katsuki turned his head away and continued down the sidewalk towards his own house. No, he didn't have any right to face her. If not for him, she would still have her son.

' _Coward_ ,' a voice whispered in the back of his mind. Katsuki told that voice to kindly shut the flying fuck up.

* * *

As it turned out, he wasn't getting a choice in the matter. Midoriya Inko was already in his living room when he got home, sitting on the couch next to Bakugou Masaru - his father - with a cup of tea in her hands.

Katsuki stood frozen in shock in the doorway as he tried to figure out how, exactly, he was supposed to talk to her.

"Hey you little shit, don't just stand there," his mother, Mitsuki, snapped, smacking him lightly on the back of his head and and effectively breaking him out of his stupor. "Show some damn manners and say 'hello' to Inko."

"Don't fucking hit me!" he snarled before turning to Inko. "...Hey Auntie. How's it going?"

Casual. Just try to sound casual. She wasn't there to accuse anyone of anything. She just wanted some company, probably.

Inko had lost a lot of weight over the past year, to the point that she looked more like a skeleton than a person.

"I'm doing very well, thank you Katsuki-chan. Just a little lonely."

Mitsuki offered her a gentle smile before taking a seat on her other side on the couch.

"I know this last year's been hard on you," she said, patting Inko's back gently. "We all miss Izukkun. Even my asshole son."

Katsuki bit his tongue to keep from blurting out ' _no I don't_.'

"Thank you, Mitsuki, but you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. I just hope wherever my Izuku is, he's happier now."

Silence fell like a guillotine.

"Er, I'm sure he's doing very well up in heaven, Midoriya-san-" Masaru started, tongue faltering when she turned to look at him with weary, but somehow still fierce eyes.

"My son isn't dead," she insisted. "I know everyone believes he is, but he wouldn't die so easily. He's out there, somewhere."

Ice water rushed down Katsuki's spine. Something in her voice just set him on edge, like she wasn't all there. Then he realized she probably wasn't.

"Inko," Mitsuki started gently, though she didn't quite seem able to form the words, 'your son is dead.'

Inko simply smiled at them.

"To be honest, I was a terrible mother to him. He grew up hating himself because of me."

A hot lump was beginning to form in Katsuki's throat.

"I just hope that, wherever he is now-"

His fingernails dug into his palms until they bled and his shoulders trembled barely contained rage.

"-he's much happier than he was when he was with me."

The front door of the Bakugou household slamming shut behind Katsuki echoed loudly enough to be heard all throughout the neighborhood. Katsuki decided he didn't need this shit. He'd go train on his own somewhere until he'd purged all thoughts of Deku and his delusional mom from his mind.

In a way though, he couldn't help thinking, Deku's mom probably got her wish. Deku was probably better off now than he had been before.

* * *

Shigaraki believed in 'tough love.' Although he was never unnecessarily cruel - though Mikumo thought he had a rather skewed idea of what was 'necessary' - he wasn't so big on kind gestures and the like.

Actually, that wasn't entirely true. He liked to hug and touch Mikumo a lot, usually - not always - careful to avoid putting all five fingers of either hand on Mikumo at once. They sat pressed close to one another when they played video games together or when Mikumo watched Shigaraki play video games. But when it came to gift giving and the like, that never happened. The only thing Shigaraki had ever given him were the clothes he was wearing, and that was only because his old clothes had been ruined.

So when Mikumo entered the bar one evening to find Shigaraki waiting for him with a package in hand - unsurprisingly wrapped with black wrapping paper - he was momentarily stunned.

"It's been one year since you've been with us," Shigaraki explained. "You've leveled up a lot since then. I figure it's about time you see what being a villain's really about. And for that, you'll need this."

Mikumo was apprehensive about seeing what being a villain was 'really about.' Of course, he knew better than to think Kurogiri collected his food ethically. He saw the news. He knew people were being murdered to keep him fed. But it was one thing killing in order to survive, and another entirely to kill for some crazy goal. He couldn't say he understood Shigaraki's views entirely, though to keep the older teen from throwing one of his famous temper tantrums he often nodded along and smiled sympathetically when Shigaraki went on about his dreams about 'overturning this rotten society of heroes.'

With trembling fingers, Mikumo tore the wrapping paper.

It was a shoe box. Huh. Shigaraki got him shoes?

He set the crumpled wrapping paper on top of the counter before removing the shoe box lid.

Oh. Not shoes after all.

An eerie half-mask, modeled after an animal's muzzle, grinned up at him with a wide mouth full of wicked teeth. Mikumo lifted it from the box, setting the cardboard aside as well so he could inspect the mask.

"Your hair already does a good enough job of hiding part of your face," Shigaraki mused. "Though I think you should brush it the other way when you're wearing this."

It took Mikumo a moment to realize what Shigaraki meant, but when he did, it seemed to make sense. The mask was almost designed to go with his eye, being made with a sturdy black material that was lined with blood red.

Both Shigaraki and Kurogiri were staring at him, gauging his reaction.

"Well? Do you not wish to try it on?" Kurogiri asked after a long pause. Mikumo jolted.

Hastily he put the mask on over his face, feeling his warm breath blow back at him as he fixed the strap over the back of his head. It fit perfectly over the bridge of his nose, almost like it had been custom made for him. Some of his hair had gotten caught under the mask and tugged painfully as he tried to brush it in the other direction, so that his monster eye was uncovered and his human one was hidden. Shigaraki lent him a hand, gently combing his fingers through Mikumo's curly, dark hair and arranging it the way he liked it. Mikumo was proud of himself for not flinching at his touch. Once Shigaraki had gotten Mikumo's hair the way he liked it he took a step back to examine his handiwork.

"Very nice," he concluded, as if the mask had somehow transformed skinny little Mikumo with his baggy clothes and rat's nest hair into a real super villain. "It suits you, Yamikumo-chan."

"It definitely gives you a more intimidating appearance," Kurogiri commented. "Though I think the rest of it... could use some work."

Shigaraki scoffed, waving him off.

"Nonsense, Mikumo looks perfect." Mikumo held still as Shigaraki raised his hood up over his head. "See? Sometimes simpler is better. It makes him like somewhat more mysterious."

Not the word Mikumo personally would have chosen, but whatever.

"I like it," he said, noticing how the mask muffled his words slightly. "Thank you, Tomura."

Shigaraki seemed pleased that Mikumo was pleased with his gift.

"I'm glad, because you'll get your first chance to use it tonight."

So soon? Just like that? Mikumo felt his heart rate accelerate. Even if he was better at fighting, he didn't know if he'd be able to actually do whatever it was Shigaraki had in mind for him. Thankfully Shigaraki's 'pain endurance exercises' were good for more than just increasing his levels of pain tolerance; they also made him much better at concealing his emotions. At least, where Tomura was concerned.

( _Tears stream down Mikumo's face as the clamp tightens and tightens around his finger until there's finally a sickening snap. The taste of his own blood fills his mouth as he bites into his other hand, already disfigured by similar treatment. The entire time Shigaraki is cooing at him, telling him how well he is doing for not screaming out or pulling his hand away, assuring him that it's almost over, only two more fingers left, and then they'll be done with his hands and can move on to his feet_ -)

"Yamikumo-chan." Shigaraki's raspy voice cut into his thoughts. "Are you ready?"

Mikumo met his eyes with his now uncovered eye, the white bleeding black and red veins branching out from the blood-colored iris.

"I am."

* * *

[ _Officer Adachi Rei was found murdered in downtown Musutafu late Thursday evening. Although police and hero presence is as high as ever, there were, once again, no witnesses. Multiple large puncture wounds in the body suggest this and related murders over the past year may have been committed by an unregistered quirk user, though the specifics of the quirk are unknown_ -]

Katsuki shut off his television, growling at the dark news story, before returning to his routine. At the moment his body was coated in sweat as he continued to pump out push ups and an unbelievably fast pace. One more year. There was only one more year until the U.A. entrance exams, and not only was he going to pass it, he was going to blow it out of the water. In order to do that, he had to be in top shape.

Of course, he couldn't neglect his grades either. Which was why each time he came down he found his nose buried in one of his text books as he continued to study and work out simultaneously.

He was going to get into U.A. with the highest score on his entrance exam. Then he was going to graduate top of his class. Then he was going to become the greatest Hero the world had ever seen.

And beat the shit out of any shitty villains or serial killers who got in his way.

* * *

Shigaraki really only had his best interests in mind, Mikumo knew. That's why he spent those long hours training him, teaching him how to be better and stronger than he was. Together they figured out the peculiarities of his powers and his strengths and weaknesses and how to eliminate those weaknesses. He taught Mikumo how to bear pain without flinching and how to kill without remorse.

But underneath all of the training and conditioning, Akatani Mikumo was still Midoriya Izuku. And Midoriya Izuku was not a villain.

* * *

Cold rainwater splashed everywhere as her foot came down in a puddle, soaking through her stockings and into her shoe. Still, she didn't slow down. She wasn't going to let that monster catch her. If only her quirk let her manipulate metal or stone. Instead she had the ability to manipulate plant matter; interesting, but useless in the middle of a big city like this.

Despite how cold the rain was sweat coated her body and her lungs felt like they were on fire. Even so she pushed herself harder, forcing herself to run faster. Behind her she could hear the labored breaths of her pursuer, thundering footsteps growing closer and closer.

Then, she turned a corner attempting to escape and skidded to a halt, barely stopping herself from slamming face first into the brick wall blocking her way. A dead end. She was finished.

"Nowhere left to run now."

Whirling around, she pressed herself against the brick wall as though she could somehow sink into it while the tiger-like beast that had been chasing her stalked closer.

"You know, I love it when my prey runs. It gets my blood pumping, ya know?" the tiger purred, rearing up on its hind legs. "But this game's gone on long enough. Now it's time for the real fun!"

She screamed as he lunged towards her, claws outstretched, but those claws never reached her. All at once the alley fell silent as a red glow bathed the area and the tiger froze in place. She watched, torn between horror and relief, as blood welled up on a line dividing his skull in two.

Then he toppled forward, body hitting the ground with a loud splash as his blood stained the puddle he'd landed in. Half of his head had fallen away, revealing the bone and meat and brain inside. She held her hand over her mouth as she fought the rising bile. Even his tongue had been split perfectly in two.

"Are you okay?"

Blinking away the tears, she took notice for the first time of the figure standing behind the tiger man. A young boy, dressed all in black with his hood up and a fanged animal mask obscuring his face. The rain had soaked through his clothes and hair, weighing them down and making it apparent how very small and thin he was.

"Are you okay?" the boy repeated, voice slightly muffled by the strange, grinning mask he wore. One of his eyes was... "You should get out of here."

Slowly, she nodded, taking a cautious step around the corpse. Still in shock she fled the scene, not even questioning whether or not she should be leaving the kid alone. Mikumo watched her go before turning his eyes to the corpse.

Although it didn't look so on the outside, technically this man's genetic code was human. His meat should he good. Probably. Kneeling over the body, Mikumo grabbed the wrist with one hand while pinning the shoulder down with the other. Then he wrenched it back and twisted until he heard the satisfying pop of the joint coming out of its socket and he tore the arm free of the body. For the road.

* * *

[ _Vigilante Hero or Serial Killer? Over the past eight months, citizens have reported being rescued by an unknown individual dressed in all black who used an unknown quirk to summarily execute criminals before Pro Heroes could arrive at the scene. The most recent witness, twenty-seven year old Fujioka Sakura, was rescued from a serial rapist by this individual as well. According to her, the individual had the ability to summon a wing made of fire_ -]

Shigaraki's eyes narrowed as he watched the television screen. Behind him Kurogiri busied himself wiping the counter tops, though he knew the older villain was paying attention just as intently as he was.

He'd thought that Mikumo had learned his place in the world, but evidently that wasn't so. It was a shame. He'd like to give his favorite underling a longer leash, but if he couldn't behave properly then more stringent measures would be necessary.

The bell rang as the front door swung open. Ah. Speak of the devil.

"Welcome back, Akatani Mikumo," Kurogiri said while Shigaraki continued glaring at the news feed.

"Hi Kurogiri-san. Hey Tomura. Anything happen while I was gone?"

Kurogiri shot Shigaraki a wary look as the younger grabbed the television remote and hit the power.

"I... thought you _understood_ , Mikumo."

Instantly, every muscle in Mikumo's body went rigid. He knew that tone of voice, and it didn't mean anything good for him. Slowly, Shigaraki stood from his bar stool, though he kept his back to both Mikumo and Kurogiri.

"Y-yes," he answered, coughing to disguise the slight tremble in his voice. "Of course I understand."

Shigaraki was scratching at his throat again. Mikumo dared a half-step closer, one hand reaching out for the older teen as though to physically stop him, though he faltered before coming close.

"If that's the case..." Shigaraki turned around, glaring at Mikumo from between the fingers of the disembodied hand covering his face. " _Why are you running around playing pretend hero?_ "

It took a moment for Mikumo to realize what he was talking about.

"I was just... hunting for my own food. I figured it wouldn't be fair if I kept putting it on you and Kurogiri-san to keep me fed all the time." Mikumo's fingernails dug into his palm, but otherwise he remained completely stoic. This was the best way to deal with Shigaraki, he'd learned early on. "Besides, if I hadn't saved those people, they would have been killed before any Heroes could arrive. Just like-"

Suddenly Shigaraki snatched up a bar stool and hurled it at Mikumo with all of his strength. It missed by a wide margin, but Mikumo flinched anyway, throwing his arms up to protect his face. A swirling black portal opened up and swallowed the stool before it could break anything.

"Don't you get it!?" Shigaraki snarled, advancing on Mikumo and grabbing both of his arms in a vice grip. Instantly Shigaraki's touch ate away at the fabric of his hoodie, before starting to work on his skin. His regeneration slowed the decay, but couldn't stop it altogether. Still, he knew pulling away would have made things worse. "People have seen you using your quirk! You let them get away after watching you kill! At this rate... It's only a matter of time..."

A gasp escaped Mikumo's lips as Shigaraki dropped his head onto Mikumo's shoulder.

"They'll take you away from me."

Silence. Mikumo made no move to get away from Shigaraki or his deadly touch. He simply stared straight ahead in shock as he attempted to put his thoughts in order. Slowly, he turned his eyes to the mop of silvery hair resting on his shoulder. Shigaraki's quirk had already eaten through several layers of skin and blood was now flowing freely down his arm, but still, he didn't pull away.

"Shigaraki Tomura..." It was Kurogiri's warning tone that finally got him to release his grip on Mikumo, at which point his regeneration instantly kicked in and the hand-shaped wounds on his arms started closing up.

"I can't lose you," Shigaraki said without acknowledging Kurogiri. "I won't let anyone take you away, not even you."

Mikumo didn't know how to react to that. Gently, he placed a comforting hand on Shigaraki's shoulder. Shigaraki raised his head, meeting Mikumo's gaze with weary, frightened eyes.

"Yamikumo-chan, I think it's time I showed you something important," he said. The moment he did Kurogiri went rigid - as rigid as fog could go - and dropped the cloth he was holding.

"Shigaraki Tomura, I think this is very unwise. He's not ready-"

"He's ready." Shigaraki would accept no argument. "You're ready. You understand me, right Yamikumo-chan?"

Neither answer felt right, though he knew what answer Shigaraki wanted to hear. Forcing his breaths to remain even, he nodded. Shigaraki beamed.

"See? If not now, then when?" Shigaraki said. "Yamikumo-chan can handle it. He'll help us turn our dream into reality, right?"

Again, Mikumo nodded, though he had no idea what he was agreeing to.

But, he got the feeling it was important that he see whatever it was that Shigaraki had to show him. Like he'd regret it if he didn't. He couldn't stay here much longer, not with the way things were going.

This would be his one chance to stop whatever it was that Shigaraki was planning.

* * *

It was a den of monsters. Man-made monsters brewing in vats with dozens of thick cables hooked up to each and every one. Engorged muscles burst out from underneath blackened, discolored skin. Tusks and fangs and beaks protruded from torn, bloody lips. Skulls were split apart by the swollen brains that stuck up just above the line of liquid in the vats. Some looked somewhat human. Most didn't. A few, Mikumo recognized. Not from their appearances, but from their scents.

He'd made meals of some of these creatures. How...?

"Not all of the subjects we took ended up on your plate," Shigaraki answered. Mikumo hadn't realized he had been speaking aloud. "We cut off the bits and pieces we didn't need and kept you fed with those. The rest, well..."

Mikumo felt sick. He needed to kill to eat, yes, but he thought that was _all_ they were doing. He didn't realize his food was being _tortured_ like this.

"They're artificial humans, though they're not exactly made from... scratch. They're just brainless, empty shells that can't do anything but follow orders."

It was a small comfort to know they weren't aware of what was happening to them. What they'd become.

"Why..." Mikumo licked his lips. "It'd be easy to get other villains to follow you, right?"

Many of the small-time criminals who frequented his and Kurogiri's bar seemed to like Shigaraki well enough. It wasn't all that uncommon for some of them to drunkenly profess their loyalty to him. Shigaraki had even talked about forming a 'League of Villains' with them.

"I have enough villains for my purposes. What I need now is a _weapon_."

Tearing his eyes away from the vats, Mikumo looked up at Shigaraki.

"A weapon?"

Shigaraki grinned down at him, bloodshot eyes wide and manic.

"To kill All Might."

For a moment Mikumo forgot to breathe. All Might. The symbol of peace. It was mostly thanks to him - the number one hero of modern times - that people were able to live more or less peaceful lives in this society of superheroes and villains. His presence alone was enough of a deterrent against most criminal activity.

"...All Might's the strongest hero out there, and no one knows the exact specifics of his quirk. Even a strong monster won't-"

"I know the specifics," Shigaraki cut him off. "Sensei told me."

Mikumo didn't know much about Shigaraki's mysterious 'sensei.' Only that the two spoke frequently on a monitor in the bar. Mikumo himself had spoken to Sensei only a handful of times over the last - two? Three? It was nearing three - years. He still didn't know what to make of him.

"So how...?"

"Shock absorption," Shigaraki said. "And regeneration. The artificial human- the best one - will have both of those quirks by the time it's finished." Shigaraki grinned down at him. "Part of that regeneration factor will come from you."

Mikumo stared up at Shigaraki in shock, earning a chuckle.

"You didn't think every time I had you cut open was to increase your pain tolerance, did you? Sensei wanted to figure out how your body works, and he found something very interesting. Your quirk seems to be centered around a certain organ in your body that produces cells that affect every part of you. They harden your skin, speed up your healing, and form your ukaku. And he took a few small samples for further testing."

Further testing? Sensei was trying to... what? Make more creatures like him? Slowly Mikumo lowered his head, not quite trusting himself to remain stoic anymore, and turned his attention back to the artificial humans.

"How long until they're ready?"

"Roughly six months, at which point we'll select the perfect artificial human to kill All Might with. Then we'll give it the quirks it needs to kill him."

Six months. Mikumo had that much time to do something about this. Although he couldn't honestly say he loved the hero the way most children his age - the way he once had when he was small and blind to his own nature - he couldn't let the number one hero die. He wasn't like Shigaraki, hating heroes and everything they stood for. He just wanted to live his life doing as little damage as possible.

If All Might were to die, the country would be plunged into chaos. Criminals would feel emboldened and commit crime without discretion, from petty to violent. Heroes and police would respond by cracking down even more harshly than they did now. That would make hunting for food without being caught a lot more difficult. Even without the number one hero, the remaining heroes were still a force to be reckoned with. Hell, number two hero Endeavor could probably beat most of the villains who frequented Shigaraki's and Kurogiri's bar, those two included, single-handedly.

And besides... Mikumo thought of his mother, probably living a nice, peaceful life now that she didn't have a human-eating monster living under her roof. If society were thrown into chaos, what would happen to her?

"I can't believe you did this," Mikumo said after a long pause. "You could really kill All Might with these."

Shigaraki was grinning widely, taking Mikumo's carefully worded statements as a sign of approval. He placed a hand on Mikumo's shoulder, careful to avoid placing all five fingers on him.

"Just a little while longer, Mikumo, and then we'll be free of this oppressive society of heroes," he said as though to assure him. It wasn't working. "And then you can step out of the shadows and truly be yourself."

Mikumo nodded, trying not to give too much thought to what that meant.

Security here was pretty low. Mostly for discretion's sake. From the outside it just looked like an abandoned warehouse. Matches would be easy to come by. How much gasoline would he need to burn this place to the ground?

* * *

Less than he'd used, apparently.

From his perch atop a telephone pole overlooking the warehouse district, Mikumo watched the column of flame that he had started, his face hidden by the mask Shigaraki gave him, just in case. The wail of sirens in the distance told him that first responders were on their way, but it was already too late for them to save the warehouse Shigaraki was using as his makeshift lab. All they'd be good for was keeping the fire from spreading to homes and stores.

Shigaraki was going to be furious. If he ever got his hands on Mikumo - if - he would probably kill him. It would be best for him to leave sooner rather than later. Still, Mikumo couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. His eyes remained trained on the fire in the distance, as though afraid he might see the artificial humans emerging from the flames at any moment. Had Shigaraki already implanted them with his cells? He had no idea.

Mikumo remained for a few more hours, watching the fire consume Shigaraki's plan to kill All Might. By the time the fire was brought under control he was long gone.

* * *

Mikumo was correct in his assumption that Shigaraki would be enraged by his actions. Three would-be allies were reduced to dust the next morning when the news broke. It took all of Kurogiri's long years of dealing with Shigaraki and his tantrums to soothe his rage, but even when he was done killing Shigaraki wasn't calm. The sting of betrayal was more painful than he ever could have imagined.

* * *

Mikumo, meanwhile, was right back where he started; wandering the streets alone, constantly worrying about where his next meal was going to come from. He was older though, smarter, stronger. Better equipped to take care of himself now. He bounced from motel to motel, limiting his feeding to criminals. When he could, anyway. He constantly looked over his shoulder, half-afraid Shigaraki was about to jump out from behind the nearest corner and grab him at any given moment.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. The first thing he did was replace the hoodie Shigaraki disintegrated holes into with money he 'borrowed' from the cash register at the bar. As he was looking around he was pleasantly surprised to find the store did indeed carry All Might hoodies in black, although the only thing indicating any relation to All-Might on it were the long, thick antennae attached to the hood that resembled All Might's haircut. Mikumo debated with himself for a while before deciding to buy it. Okay, maybe he hadn't completely outgrown his hero worship. But hey, it was common enough for boys his age, so he could rationalize it as camouflage of sorts.

The second thing he did was hop a bullet train.

* * *

Mikumo was resting his head against the window, watching the scenery pass by but not really paying attention as he bounced his foot in time to in imaginary beat. He wasn't entirely sure where he was at the moment, and didn't really care. So long as he got far away from central Musutafu, he was fine with going anywhere.

The door separating his car from the one in front of it suddenly opened and an older man in a ticket inspector's uniform walked in.

...Except for jail. Or juvie or wherever. He didn't know what the worst punishment he could get for getting caught riding the train without a ticket was, but the risk of getting picked up by police and returned home wasn't one he was going to take. They were nearing the next stop. No else in the car was getting up quite yet, patiently waiting for the ticket inspector, so Mikumo didn't either, but once the inspector was busy with someone else he grabbed his backpack - containing his mask, an extra hoodie and pair of jeans, and several cans of coffee from a vending machine - and slid a few seats down towards the door.

The second the train started to slow he was on his feet, backpack slung over his shoulder as he grabbed one of the hand loops above his seat but not moving towards the door quite yet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the ticket inspector shooting him a suspicious look. He kept his expression blank, pretending to be totally unaware of the ticket inspector. A chime sounded as the computerized voice of the PA came on.

[NOW APPROACHING, TATOOIN STATION. NOW APPROACHING, TATOOIN STATION. TRANSFER TO THE GREEN LINE AT THE NEXT STATION.]

Mikumo tensed at the name.

What!? Of all... Why here?

The ticket inspector was approaching. He didn't have a choice. The second the doors hissed open he was off, ignoring the ticket inspectors calls and people's startled shouts as he raced away. He wasn't going anywhere near his top speed and yet managed to keep ahead of all of them and easily leap over the gate. Several whistles blew behind him and he ran faster. He didn't stop until he'd made it out of the station, down from the overpass, and lost himself in the crowd of people on the street where he gradually slowed his speed until he was walking at a normal pace. This wasn't the first time he'd had to lose someone.

Three years ago, Mikumo had walked through this area daily on his way to and from school. His old home was only a fifteen minute walk away. Would anyone recognize him if they saw him? Probably not. He was aware he looked quite different, and not many people knew him well enough for him to stick in their minds. He was probably safe for the time being. This might even be interesting.

Three years. How much had changed since then?

* * *

( **Author's Note** : This isn't meant to be a proper chapter exactly, but rather a montage of the time between the prologue and the start of the real story, which happens at the same time as the story would start in the manga. Each passage is a snapshot of some important event that occurred during the three years he was gone from home. There wasn't too much planning in this, I just kinda let things progress in a manner that felt natural to me. Originally I thought I wanted to have Izuku meet Shigaraki at the canon point in the story, but as I was writing I realized he wouldn't have any reason to want to enroll at U.A. and become a professional hero like in the original story. In fact, he'd have every reason to want to avoid heroes. So I changed it up a little. And yes, I did end up going with the ukaku kagune type. I liked the idea too much not to.

On a side note... I feel like I'm struggling to get the hang of the characters' personalities. I went through and read most of the manga in one go trying to get a feel for them, but I think it's one of those things I just need to practice to get better at. Izuku is especially hard, since his personality here more closely resembles his personality at the very beginning of the story, before he received One-For-All. Not too much reference material in that regard. If you see any glaring flaws, please let me know so I can fix them!)


	3. Your Magic, Black Rabbit

_At first there is nothing. Just pitch blackness. Then a spotlight clicks on, illuminating the single desk in this empty space where Bakugou Katsuki sits, shoulders tense, hands clenching the fabric of his pants, and eyes staring straight ahead as a single bead of sweat trails down the side of his face. He can't move. Not to release his grip, not to stand from the desk, not even to shout or scream or curse._

 _Gradually, the spotlight widens until it illuminates the figures standing in a perfect circle around him. Most of them are people he knows from school. Classmates. His elementary school teacher. He spots his own parents out of the corner of his eye. Midoriya Inko stands directly in front of him. They are all chanting the same thing. A single word, over and over again, in an eerie mantra._

 _'Murderer.'_

 _'Murderer!'_

 **_'Murderer!'_ **

**_"MURDERER!"_ **

* * *

Katsuki bolted awake an hour before his alarm would have gone off, eyes wide and body coated in a cold sweat. It took several moments for him to realize it had just been a bad dream, but even when it did his heart continued to race.

"Damn it," he cursed, flopping back down on his sweat-soaked pillow. It had been years since he'd had that dream. Why now?

Checking the date on his phone, he thought he understood why. Today his class would be working on their high school applications. Stressful day. Weird dreams usually came on stressful days, right?

Well, he had a whole hour to kill and he didn't feel like going to sleep again after... that. Maybe he'd go for a run, get some extra exercise in before school. And try to get that fucked up dream out of his head.

* * *

Like every other day of his life, Katsuki's classroom was in absolute chaos. Students were chatting loudly, excitedly, about useless shit, bragging about their second rate quirks and firing them off in the classroom without a thought. Of course, today was the day they'd be discussing which high schools they'd be applying to, so it was no wonder. Even Katsuki was lighting off small explosions in the palm of his hand and smirking to himself, feet kicked up on top of his desk as he waited for the teacher to show.

Finally. One step closer.

Even when the teacher entered the room two minutes after the bell rang they didn't settle down. If anything, the excited middle-schoolers seemed to grow rowdier.

"C'mon class! You're middle school seniors!" he shouted, putting on his best 'stern' expression, though Katsuki gave it two minutes tops before he broke and started acting like a dumb ass again. "It's time you started thinking seriously about your futures! I'll be handing out printouts on your desired life-courses!"

Make that twenty seconds. Three... two... one...

"But who am I kidding? You all want to be heroes, don't you?" the teacher guffawed as the students all burst out into cheers and unleashed their quirks. Flame and sparks and flapping wings and gnashing fangs filled the classroom. Katsuki scoffed at the childish display.

"Yes, yes your quirks are all wonderful," the teacher said, "but it's against the rules to use them during school!"

Not that that had ever stopped anybody before.

( _Even as tears stream down the quirkless child's face as he trembles in terror, the teacher makes no move to intervene_.)

Eugh. This was because of that dream. Had to get it out of his head.

With an irritated scoff, Katsuki turned his eyes out the window. Several angry eyes immediately locked on him.

"You gotta problem, Bakugou?" someone growled. Katsuki didn't so much as grace them with a dirty look.

"Yeah, I got a problem. I don't like being lumped in with you side characters."

Naturally, this didn't go over well with the rest of the class. Dirty or envious looks were being shot his way from every direction, and everyone was clamoring to give him a piece of their mind. Not that Katsuki cared about any of their opinions. They could all eat shit for all he cared.

"You've gotta big mouth, Bakugou!" someone shouted above the other angry voices.

"You should all shut up like the extras you are!" he snarled back.

Their teacher, meanwhile, just watched the chaos with a resigned sigh. Business as usual, as far as he was concerned.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten," he commented, somehow able to make himself heard even above his rambunctious students' squawking, "Bakugou's shooting for UA High, isn't he?"

All over the classroom anger and indignant looks gave way to shock and awe. Several students even looked impressed, while Katsuki ignored them.

"You mean that national-level academy!?" one student cried. "Isn't it's entrance exam extremely difficult to pass!?"

"Yeah, and it's hyper competitive to get in, right!?" another student chimed in.

They were impressed. Dirty, jealous looks were replaced with expressions of awe and adulation. Katsuki didn't care. He wasn't going to UA to impress anyone. He just needed to get the hell out of Orudera.

"You side characters done running your mouths!?" he snapped angrily. "Out of everyone in this crappy town I'm the only one who could ever get in! I'm not like the rest of you background characters with your weak ass quirks. I'm gonna blow through the rankings and replace All Might as the number one hero, and nothing's going to get in my way!"

After all, he was the only one in this class - in all of Orudera Middle, actually - who had a chance to succeed and pass U.A.'s rigorous entrance exam. His quirk was the best suited for combat. He'd been practicing with it for years and knew how to adapt it to a variety of situations. He wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection.

When class let out for the day he pointedly avoided looking at the single unused desk in the classroom as he walked out.

* * *

"You know, you could try being less of an asshole every once in a while," one of Katsuki's 'friends' - more like a follower really - teased as he and one of their other classmates trailed behind Katsuki after they'd left school that day. "I swear, one day someone's gonna up and fucking deck you."

"They can try," Katsuki snarled in response. His followers just laughed.

From there the two of them got wrapped up in their own conversation, going on and on about whatever second-rate schools they were applying to. Katsuki didn't care. It didn't have anything to do with him, and they were the ones who insisted on following him. He never asked for their company, so they couldn't blame him when he totally ignored them.

He lost track of time as he walked. Katsuki didn't want to go home quite yet, and the only homework he had was to finish his life-course printout anyway, which he'd already mostly filled out in the classroom. Maybe he should head to the beach or the woods for some training...

Some muffled sobs and jeering laughter caught his attention. Snapping back to Earth, he found he and his followers had walked right by the park they all used to play at as kids, and shit was going down between four students from his school.

One of the middle-schoolers was cowering on his knees, hands held over his head as he sniffled pathetically. The other three were laughing at his distress, one gnashing his overlarge fangs that protruded from his massive mouth, one extending his elastic arms like whips, and one levitating several rocks above her head. The three wore identical malicious grins as they tormented the kid in the middle.

"Oh man, what a little bitch!" the fang guy - Katsuki never really bothered to learn all of his classmates' names - taunted. "We barely even did anything and he's already crying!"

( _"What a crybaby!" Katsuki taunts as the kid cowering before him bursts into tears. "We haven't even done anything yet!"_ )

Rage boiled beneath Katsuki's skin. His hands clenched into fists as he felt heat building in his palms.

"What a bunch of assholes," one of his followers commented, the other nodding numbly in agreement.

"Yeah, but an adult'll be by to break it up soon. Those guys won't get away with it." And with that the two of them continued on walking down the sidewalk. "Hey Katsuki, you wanna hang at the mall or something-"

But Katsuki wasn't listening. He took two steps towards the shitheads picking on the loser...

And then froze in his tracks as, seemingly out of nowhere, a fifth kid ran to place himself between the bullies and the kid being picked on. Kid number five was a scrawny little thing, his baggy black clothes hanging off of his tiny frame and his disheveled mop of curly black hair falling over his right eye. The kid was grossly pale, like a weak sprout that had struggled to grow in the dark for a long time. The heavy dark circles under his eyes lent to his sickly appearance. He was clearly a weakling who had absolutely no business trying to protect anybody, so why-

"Hey, leave him alone! Can't you see he's crying?" the emo kid shouted, glaring at the bullies without the slightest hint of fear. "Three against one isn't a fair fight! If you keep bullying him, I won't forgive you!"

Slowly Katsuki's eyes widened in shock, lips moving soundlessly to form a name.

( _"Th-that's mean, Kaachan! Can't you see he's crying?" Deku's knees are trembling and his eyes are welling up with tears. Even as scared as he is, he's holding his ground. "If you keep going... I-I-I'll never forgive you!"_ )

Deku...?

The three bullies howled with laughter.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Telekinetic Girl - who seemed to be the leader - asked. "You must have a pretty neat quirk if you think you can take all three of us down alone!"

Her lackeys sneered, but Emo Kid didn't seem intimidated at all.

"I don't need a quirk to beat you!"

...What? That kid was quirkless? Or was he just refusing to use his quirk?

With a gesture Telekinetic Girl signaled Big Mouth and Stretch to attack. Both threw themselves at Emo Kid at once but the kid didn't move like an elementary student in a schoolyard scrap.

He moved like a pro.

Emo Kid dodged their attacks with ease. When Stretch's limbs shot out to try to grab him the kid leaped into the air, spring-boarded off of his rubbery arm, and then threw a kick aimed directly at Stretch's face. Stretch took a direct hit.

Katsuki was pretty sure he saw a tooth fly out of Stretch's mouth as he went down in a heap, Emo Kid landing gracefully a meter away. Such a clean take down seemed to give Big Mouth some pause, but then the bully let out a roar before throwing himself at Emo Kid again.

Without seeming to stop to think Emo Kid whirled around, shrugging off his backpack in one fluid motion and hurling it as hard as he could at Big Mouth's face. Big Mouth lurched back as the backpack got lodged in his massive mouth, and then spat it back out again as Emo Kid suddenly launched himself forward and plowed his fist into Big Mouth's stomach.

Big Mouth let out a sound between a pained groan and a high pitched squeal as he toppled back, lying frozen in the dirt for several seconds as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Then, all at once, he scrambled up, fleeing desperately from the kid who'd just taken him down. Stretched followed suit, speeding off in the exact opposite direction.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Telekinetic girl screamed as she turned and watched him run away. "He's just one stupid kid!"

"You should quit bullying people." Emo Kid's voice caused her to flinch. She turned around, eyes filled with hate as she glared at Emo Kid. "Only cowards specifically target weaklings like this."

The kid hadn't even noticed him once yet. Why did it sound like those words were aimed at Katsuki? His teeth made an awful noise as he ground them together.

"Let's go," he growled to his followers, who had also stopped to watch the spectacle when they noticed Katsuki wasn't walking away. Both jolted, snapped out of their stupors by his gruff voice.

"What?" one of them asked. "But Katsuki-"

"Shut it. We're leaving."

Even if he looked and acted a little like stupid Deku, that kid wasn't him. Deku was dead. This kid only looked halfway there. If anything this was just the universe's way of twisting a knife in the wound. Not that he'd ever admit there was a wound there.

"Hey, are you okay?" Emo Kid was asking, bending and offering a hand to the kid he'd rescued. Although his face was still damp, the tears had stopped and he was looking up at his savior in awe. "It's alri-"

Telekinetic Girl took advantage of the opportunity. With his back turned, she levitated his own backpack along with every sizable rock in the immediate area. She was going to assault him while his back was turned.

" _DROP DE_ -"

Her enraged cry was cut off by an explosion directly above her head. Emo Kid whirled around and her concentration broke, causing everything she'd levitated to come raining back down to the ground. Most of it pelted her. Before she could recover Katsuki strode over, eyes narrowed in fury and hands still smoldering. His own followers watched in shock and the girl's and Emo Kid's eyes widened in fear as he neared, grabbing a fistful of the front of her uniform and pulling her towards him until they were nose to nose. Her blouse was going to have scorch marks later.

"Look bitch, don't think I'd go easy on you just 'cause you're a girl. I ever see you pull some shit like this again you're dead, _got it!?_ "

Blood draining from her face, she nodded so quickly Katsuki was surprised her head didn't fly off her shoulders. With a grunt, he shoved her away from him. She stumbled back a few steps before spinning on her heel and sprinting away. Good riddance.

Turning, Katsuki's eyes landed on Emo Kid, who was currently in the process of gathering up his things and stuffing them back into his bag, the kid he'd rescued lending a hand. It seemed like the zipper had gotten snagged on Big Mouth's teeth and been torn open and then when Telekinetic Girl levitated his bag and then dropped it a bunch of his stuff had fallen out.

The kid really did remind him of Deku. They even looked somewhat similar.

Eyes scanning the area, Katsuki realized most of the things that had fallen out of the kid's backpack were cans of coffee. No wonder he had those rings under his eyes. Kid drank too much goddamn caffeine. Katsuki knelt as he noticed something strange lying among Emo Kid's stuff; a half mask with the appearance of an animal's muzzle. He picked it up, inspecting the manic grin and sharp teeth, when suddenly the mask was ripped from his hands. Scowling, Katsuki looked up into the - frightened? - eyes of Emo Kid.

"You're welcome," Katsuki growled before standing. Up close the kid seemed even smaller. He probably wasn't even in middle school yet, or was just starting. Emo Kid didn't answer, hurriedly shoving his mask back into his bag. "Next time don't turn your back 'til the fight's over, dumb ass."

"S-sorry," Emo Kid mumbled, ducking his head to avoid eye contact. Katsuki raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in demeanor.

"Dude, that was totally awesome!"

Emo Kid flinched at Katsuki's follower's boisterous tone as he and the other middle school senior finally made their ways over.

"You were so cool!" his friend agreed. "It totally reminded me of the pro hero fights that are on TV all the time, right? You think so too, right Katsuki?"

"What are you, fucking stupid?" Katsuki growled. "A pro wouldn't have let his guard down like that. Look, if I hadn't come along that bitch woulda totally kicked your ass at the end there, so you better be fucking grateful, got it you emo fuck!?"

Instead of answering, Emo Kid flinched as though Katsuki had let off another explosion. Then spun on his heel and took off, throwing his backpack over his shoulder as he sped away from Katsuki and his followers and the kid he'd saved at at least twice the speed of the bullies he'd chased off earlier.

"Hey! Get back here you little shit!" Katsuki roared, hands sparking.

"Just leave it, Katsuki," one of his followers said. "Kid's prolly just shy. So, you still up for hanging out in the shopping district?"

Katsuki's eyes remained trained on the kid's retreating back until he hopped a wooden fence and disappeared completely from sight.

Shy? Was that it? That seemed more like genuine fear to Katsuki. The kid hadn't been afraid of the three bullies who were _actually_ trying to hurt him, but he was scared of Katsuki who had stepped in on his behalf?

Weird kid.

* * *

Mikumo leaped over fences, scaled buildings, and cut through alleys as he fled, running as though Shigaraki himself were hot on his heels. Of all people, why...

He kept running until he'd long since left the middle school seniors behind, coming to stop underneath a bridge he vaguely remembered as being on the route between his old house and his old school. As soon as his feet stopped moving he dropped to his knees, sucking in huge lungfuls of air as his heart jack-hammered against the inside of his rib cage. Mikumo had run as fast as he could without summoning his ukaku and cleared a very long distance in a very short amount of time.

At least it seemed like Katsuki hadn't been able to keep up. Or, maybe, he just decided stupid Izuku wasn't worth chasing. The second one seemed more likely, based on what he remembered of Katsuki.

"But wait, did he even recognize me? He did seem somewhat startled to see me but that doesn't necessarily mean he recognized me, it's entirely possible that he mistook me for someone else, but-"

He clamped his mouth shut abruptly, realizing he was mumbling again.

Okay, this could potentially be a problem, but it was a problem that could be dealt with later. Although he still didn't understand why Katsuki had stepped in at the end there, obsessing over it wouldn't do him any good. He doubted Katsuki would care enough to tell anyone about seeing him, and those others didn't seem to know him at all. For now he just needed to focus on finding a place to sleep the day away. He wouldn't need to eat again for another couple of weeks, but maybe he could find a place to get some good coffee later. The stuff from the vending machine was okay, but fresh brew would be better.

As he thought about his next plan of action, breath evening out as he rose to his feet and continued walking at a more relaxed pace, he failed to notice a nearby manhole he'd walked over.

He failed to notice tendrils of greenish-grey sludge emerge from the holes in the manhole cover behind him, clumping together to form a single grotesque mass with two massive bulging eyeballs and a wide mouth filled with long, yellow teeth.

He failed to notice as the sludge creature slithered closer and closer to him.

By the time he noticed the shadow looming over him and whirled around, it was already too late.

"A smallish-sized invisibility cloak..." the sludge creature hissed as tendrils shot out and wrapped around Mikumo's wrists and ankles, pulling him towards the mass even as he fought to free himself. "Don't worry," it mockingly consoled him as one thick tendril started to force its way into Mikumo's mouth and down throat whilea smaller one wormed its way into his nostril. "I'm just going to take over your body."

One of its disgusting eyeballs was floating right by Mikumo's head - _was as big as Mikumo's head_ \- and he could feel its hot, rank breath on his face as he struggled to free himself to no avail. The goop soaked into his clothes, weighed his arms and legs down and made them useless. Mikumo glared at the creature, the eye hidden under his hair transforming. The creature's smirk widened.

"Calm down. It'll only hurt for about forty-five seconds."

Warmth built on his back, under the skin on his shoulder.

"You'll feel better soo-"

And then exploded outwards, ukaku slicing cleanly through the sludge villain's eyeball. As it turned out, it did have blood after all.

The sludge villain shrieked in pain as it dropped Mikumo. Mikumo landed somewhat unsteadily, hastily sucking in lungfuls air after nearly being drowned, but he recovered quickly. His ukaku solidified, transforming from something like a flickering flame into rows upon rows of dagger-like crystals protruding from his shoulder. He watched the sludge creature writhe in pain, cold fury in his eyes.

"My eye! You little bastard... What did you do to my eye!?"

Both halves of the villain's severed eye had fallen from its main body, puddles of blood and yellowish goo swirling together on the concrete.

"You chose the wrong target," Mikumo said coolly, although he was glad the sludge creature picked him and not some other kid. "I wonder if your eyes are at least edible? Then again, I'm not exactly in a hurry to have any part of you in my mouth again..."

He flared his ukaku, ready to launch a barrage of crystals to shred what remained of the villain's solid form, its eyes and mouth. That's when a booming laugh rang out and both Mikumo and the sludge creature halted. Suddenly the manhole cover shot into the air as a mighty fist punched it open from underneath and a muscular figure emerged into the sunlight.

Slowly, Mikumo turned towards the manhole before freezing as terror overtook him.

"It's alright now, young man."

He trembled, his crystalline wing igniting once more as the owner of the booming voice stood tall, muscles straining beneath a too-tight t-shirt and white teeth sparkling as he flashed his signature fearless grin. Behind Mikumo, the villain sucked up the discarded pieces of its eye and frantically tried to slither away.

"Because I am-"

The number one hero, All Might, froze as he took in the situation. The villain, injured, frightened, attempting to flee. Blood on the ground. A young boy - somewhere around elementary or middle school-aged - with a wing made of something like flame or blood, frozen seemingly in terror.

Huh.

Had the child reacted to defend himself out of fear of dying? If so, All Might was impressed. But why did he not seem to calm down now that a hero was here? Cautiously, he took a step towards the boy, one hand reaching out to pat him gently on the head.

"Don't be afraid. You're safe no-"

Apparently, that was the wrong move. The moment he drew close the child broke out of his stupor, wing flaring before a barrage of crystals shot out of the swirling red wing. Instinctively All Might raised his arms to protect his face. He could feel the crystals slicing through his skin, all shallow cuts. Was the child aware enough to hold back, or was this the extent of his strength?

All at once the assault stopped. When All Might lowered his arms the child was nowhere to be seen. The sludge villain was gone as well, having taken advantage of the momentary distraction to escape. All Might puzzled over the odd occurrence. The fear in that child's eyes clearly hadn't been because of the villain. It had been because of... him? But why? He was a symbol of peace, a protector of humanity. The kid was even wearing an All Might hoodie, so why did he act like he was afraid of the hero?

There was an obvious answer to that question; the child was on the wrong side of the law himself. It was hard to imagine such a small and sickly-looking child was a criminal, but such cases weren't unheard of.

All Might felt a pang of pity for the child. Based on his frail, disheveled appearance he doubted the boy's situation was a happy one. Unfortunately, finding him would have to wait. His first priority was to locate and apprehend the sludge creature before it selected another victim.

* * *

Several blocks away, Mikumo once again found himself struggling for breath.

Today was not his lucky day. It was like the universe was picking on him or something.

* * *

A new meat suit. It needed a meat suit, before that freaky kid or that damned hero caught up with it. Where... Where!?

Thankfully eyeballs were made of mostly liquid. Slowly the two pieces of its eye started to seal together. As its vision slowly returned the sludge villain made its way through the Tatooin Shopping District, creeping and crawling through the shadows as it searched over people to hide inside of.

Someone young. Someone fit. Someone with a really powerful quirk. It needed... It needed...

Footsteps. The sludge creature melted to the ground, disguising itself as a puddle, as three boys in middle school uniforms walked past.

* * *

"Hey Katsuki, you okay? You're acting kinda... tense."

The question, posed by one of Katsuki's followers, was asked in response to the way Katsuki seemed to be glowering at everything and nothing. Sure, Katsuki wasn't exactly known for his charm and friendly demeanor, but this was different. It was almost like his rage was directed at something specific today, only neither of his followers could figure out what that something was.

"Saying Katsuki's kinda tense is like saying All Might's a little strong. Dude, you look like you're legitimately gonna kill the next person who looks at you funny."

Katsuki jolted at the choice of words, throwing a dirty look at the one who said it over his shoulder.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm just thinking, that's all!"

' _Only cowards specifically target weaklings like this_.'

Stupid emo fuck. What did he know?

' _Kaachan, that's mean!_ '

Katsuki stomped down the alley he and his followers were using as their shortcut, not caring when he stepped in a puddle of slimy muck. He kicked the puddle, causing mud to spray everywhere.

"Hey, why don't we go to the arcade for a change of pace?" one of his followers suggested. "Katsuki, you wanna come, right?"

Waste time at the arcade? Sure, why the hell not?

"Yeah," he grunted. His followers beamed.

"Then let's go to the one in front of the station," the other guy suggested. "There's lots of prey there!"

Knowing him, he could either be talking about girls or weaklings whose arcade change they could steal.

"You're terrible," the first follower said, though he was smirking. Katsuki glared at both of them.

" _What?!_ If we get caught, it'll end up on my record!" he spat, a small explosion going off in his hand threateningly.

They flinched, but not at him.

"Hey, l-look!"

Whirling around, Katsuki found the puddle he'd stepped in swelling, rising from the ground. It blocked out the light from the opening of the alley as it formed a pair of eyes and a massive, gaping mouth that stretched towards him as though it were planning to swallow Katsuki whole.

"An invisible cloak with a great quick!" a voice bubbled from the sludge, even though its mouth didn't move with the words.

Although Katsuki wouldn't admit it later, his eyes widened in fear.

* * *

It was taking too long. Even after hours of searching, All Might had failed to find either the villain or the kid. He doubted the two of them were together. In all likelihood the sludge villain would go after an easier target than the child with the flaming, blood-red wing. The problem was, there were so many people in this city. He could have chosen a body to take over already. And on top of everything else...

All Might looked down to find wispy trails of white smoke rising from his arms.

He didn't have any time left.

* * *

Mikumo popped the tab to one of his coffees before raising it to his lips. He'd wanted to find a cafe, but after facing two scares in a row - meeting his childhood... whatever Kaachan was to him again, and then coming face to face with the top hero - he felt he could use a little caffeine. Besides, it kept his mouth occupied so he couldn't mumble while his thoughts raced.

All Might probably wouldn't come after him. At least, not right away. Sure, it was illegal for people to use their quirks to fight unless they had registered hero licenses, but All Might would probably recognize that he'd acted in self defense and let it slide, right? Then again, there was assault of a public defender, but maybe he could play it off as adrenaline from having just been attacked. That seemed somewhat reasonable.

Several frightened cries and a pillar of smoke rising in the distance derailed Mikumo's train of thought. It seemed like a villain-hero fight was going on nearby. People were rushing to it already. It would probably look pretty strange if he ignored it, and he couldn't deny he was a bit curious. All Might had probably caught up to that sludge monster and was beating it down. Mikumo calculated the risks, and then decided he could afford to go. It would be easy to get lost in the crowd, after all.

Still sipping his coffee, Mikumo joined the throng of people rushing to the scene. It looked like it was around the shopping district.

An explosion went off. Definitely inside the shopping district. Mikumo faltered mid step, before resuming at a faster pace. Could it be...?

* * *

A thin man, all skin and bones, ran through the shopping district. His sunken, hollow eyes were trained on the column of smoke rising in the distance. Each step seemed to come from great effort and each breath sounded like it pained him considerably. Even so, he pushed himself forward, towards the sound of sirens in the distance.

* * *

The explosions were coming faster and faster. People ran, screaming, as windows shattered and the flames continued to spread from their source. Already three pro heroes had arrived on the scene, but even they faltered when they saw what was happening.

Flames licked at the inside of the alley, all swirling around a massive creature made of mud and slime. The creature grinned wickedly at the police and the heroes as in its grasp a young boy with straw-colored hair and burning red eyes flailed and struggled for freedom. Katsuki spat and snarled as he fought to free himself and for just a moment he managed to get his face free long enough to suck in precious air. The heroes were fighting but their powers were useless against this particular villain. Their attacks just bounced off him or went through him. And many weren't willing to brave Katsuki's explosions.

"I won't let sewage like this swallow me!" Katsuki roared and his adrenaline kicked in. So close. Just a little more and he'd be able to pry his arms and legs free and blow this slimy piece of shit to kingdom come! A spark went off in his hand, only to be swallowed and doused by the sludge. "You little-!"

An arm came free. A chain of explosions followed. The heroes flinched at the force of the blasts, raising their arms to protect themselves from the smoke and debris. But it wasn't enough. Once again Katsuki found his arm trapped.

"What power!" the sludge monster crowed. "I've hit the jackpot!"

With this kid's quirk, with this much power, it could get its revenge on that shitty kid who'd cut its eye!

As its excitement swelled the creature's body surged and swelled upwards, causing the civilian onlookers and police to draw back.

"Whoa, what's that!?"

"Could he be a big-shot villain?"

People watched, chattering excitedly like they were watching a movie as more heroes arrived and tried and failed to stop the creature and save Katsuki.

None of the heroes could get close to the villain.

None were willing to get close.

Explosions continued going off one after another as Katsuki found his mouth and nose once again covered and felt his lungs start to burn as sludge forced its way down his throat.

' _Don't breathe it in, don't breathe it in_...'

If he tried to breathe and got slime in his lungs he'd start to drown. But the lack of air was already starting to fog his brain and his body was screaming at him to take a breath. He stared out at the crowd. Why wasn't anyone doing anything!? Why were they all just watching!? Didn't someone have a quirk they could use!? Another explosion went off. Then another. He couldn't breathe. It hurt.

His arms and legs were going limp. He couldn't keep fighting.

Another explosion, and then a building collapsed.

Someone...

* * *

The thin skeleton man finally arrived at the scene, gasping for breath. As he took in the sight before him, beads of sweat rolled down his face.

This was his fault. If only he had apprehended the villain instead of trying to approach the skittish child... If only he'd paid more attention to his time limit...

He was pathetic.

* * *

 _...Was this what dying felt like?_

 _The world was swimming. He couldn't breathe. He could see the glow of flames but everything felt so cold..._

 _There were people staring at him. Watching him die? Why weren't any of them... doing anything...? What was happening...? Where...?_

 _...Deku?_

 _Someone at the back of the crowd... with curly hair that fell in front of their right eye... it was Deku, wasn't it?_

 _Deku was staring at him, no expression on his face. He'd help, wouldn't he? Deku always... helped..._

 _Deku turned his back, and walked away._

 _Katsuki watched helplessly as the boy he'd killed abandoned him to his fate._

 _Finally, the tears he'd been holding back fell._

* * *

Mikumo stared in horror at the sight of Katsuki's weakening struggles in the sludge creature's hold. Dammit. He shouldn't have let that bastard get away. If only he'd finished it off earlier, and now...

The heroes present were helpless to do anything but contain the damage. Mikumo understood that, but still couldn't stop the icy rage that drained all emotion from his face and left him feeling cold. Couldn't Kamui Woods use his branches to give Katsuki something to hold on to? Couldn't Desutegoro grab him and rip him out of the slime? Couldn't they _try!?_

But none of this seemed to occur to any of them. They fell back, forming a barrier between the civilians and the rampaging monster. Mikumo watched, expressionless, and Katsuki grew weaker and weaker in the sludge monster's grasp.

People were talking. Asking the same questions that Mikumo was thinking. What were the heroes doing? Why weren't they helping? Most of them accepted that the heroes didn't want to rush in and accidentally hurt Katsuki without question. Then someone mentioned the name All Might and suddenly that's all anyone was talking about. Wasn't All Might chasing this guy? Where was he? Why wasn't he saving this kid?

Where _was_ All Might? It hadn't hit Mikumo until that moment, but it really seemed strange that he wasn't there trying to apprehend the sludge creature. Even if he'd run in the wrong direction looking for it, he should have seen the explosion and come running, right?

Katsuki couldn't hold out for much longer. Even if the adults were willing to wait, Katsuki could only go so long without air. Someone had to do something. The adults weren't doing anything. Someone...

Suddenly Katsuki's eyes found Mikumo's through the crowd and Mikumo felt everything around him - the heroes, the murmuring civilians, the flames, the sirens - fall away. Those were tears welling up in his eyes, refusing to fall. Katsuki was... _afraid_. Afraid because he was about to die.

Mikumo couldn't let that happen. It didn't matter that Katsuki didn't remember him or had hated him. He couldn't stand idly by while someone he knew was about to die.

He turned away from what was right in front of him and focused his attention to the stores surrounding the alley. If he could get in a sneak attack then maybe... Mikumo walked away, the white of his right eye turning black while his iris bled red.

* * *

Toshinori Yagi watched helplessly, clenching the spot on his torso that bore scars from previous battles. Around him he could hear voices calling for All Might, demanding to know where All Might was. Self loathing coiled in his gut as the boy being held hostage grew weaker and weaker. Everyone was counting on All Might to come and save the day, but he couldn't do anything

A black blur, like a shadow, shot from the roof of the nearby building and sliced a line across the villain's face. It shrieked in agony as blood and mucous spurted from the line that had been cut through its eyes. Everyone, civilians, police, and heroes alike, stared at the small figure in shock and awe. They stood from where they crouched in amid the flames, dressed all in black with a dark hood covering his head and rabbit-ears dangling from the fabric. A mask covered the lower half of his face, resembling an animal's muzzle.

Yagi felt his heart stop when he saw the tiny figure's single uncovered eye; all black, with a burning red iris and pronounced red veins.

"You bastard!" the sludge villain shrieked as the boy with the rabbit-hood turned around to glare at it. "I'm going to kill you this time!"

Two club-like tendrils shot at him like bullets, but the villain could barely see. The boy didn't move at all, and still both attacks missed as the sludge creature flailed blindly. Then something bulged underneath the boy's hoodie. People gaped in awe as a glowing red wing that burned like fire and flowed like blood burst out from a spot over the boy's right shoulder. Then the boy shot forward, weaving gracefully around the creature's tentacles as he reached towards the hostage.

Mikumo's arms sank into the villain's gooey body as he reached for Katsuki's hands. They were limp, but gave a slight twitch at the brush of skin, red eyes fluttering open to meet Mikumo's uncovered monstrous eye.

"It's okay," he said, voice muffled by the mask. "You aren't going to die."

The sludge villain shrieked, as though sensing his hostage was about to be taken. Before he had a chance to do anything about it Mikumo's wing crystallized and then the sharpened ends dug into the sludge and flesh surrounding Katsuki. Another earsplitting shriek rose from the slime as the crystals split its tongue in two, dousing both Mikumo and Katsuki with blood. It's hold slackened and with a final wrench Mikumo managed to pull Katsuki free.

Katsuki fell to his knees, throwing up blood and slime and coughing until he nearly threw up again in between gasps as he sucked in much needed air. The villain snarled and flailed and slowly its eyes started to repair themselves. Both eyes, wild with hate, locked onto Mikumo.

( _Dead. That brat is so dead. I am going to give him the painful death he deserves._ )

Katsuki suddenly found himself thrown bodily by the much smaller boy towards the police line before the sludge creature started to rampage again. Mikumo became a black and red blur as he leaped out of the way of its tendrils. They shot, serpent-like, through the air towards Mikumo, but he dodged again, bouncing off of the wall of the alley and ricocheting himself high in the air above the monster. From his vantage point all the way up there he released a flurry of crystals that sliced through the sludge and tore its eyes and tongue to ribbons. Then he propelled himself in the air to land on the roof of the next building over.

Unable to speak properly, the monster roared and thrashed its tendrils at him, but it was in too much pain to think properly. It could only howl like a beast. Mikumo watched, unimpressed by the threatening display.

"You're looking the wrong way," he said finally, giving the villain pause. Its slivered, bloody eye focused on him for a moment, then swiveled around towards the hostage it had just lost.

Katsuki's fury wasn't cold. It was all heat and rage and explosions. He held one arm out towards the sludge monster, his eyes aflame.

" _EAT SHIT AND DIE!_ "

Then he let off a massive blast in the center of the creature's mass that caused it to swell up like a balloon before bursting all over the walls of the alley.

The crowd looked on in awe, ears ringing. The villain that had given even pro heroes a hard time had been defeated by two young boys, one of whom had been held hostage by the same villain only moments prior. Katsuki fell to his knees, still panting harshly as he glowered at the spot where the villain once stood. Then his eyes traveled up towards the rooftops, towards the rabbit-mask kid.

He was gone. Like he'd never been there to begin with.

* * *

With the villain defeated, the police and heroes quickly moved in to clean up the mess and make the arrest. The scattered sludge was gathered into bottles and delivered to the police. Cameramen, news reporters - anyone associated with the media really - gathered to interview the heroes and anyone else who had witnessed the battle who was willing to speak.

No one was able to locate the boy with the rabbit mask and hood.

The civilians who had watched the fight started referring to him as 'Black Rabbit.' Katsuki called him 'that emo fuck.'

He was being praised by the heroes. One even tried to recommended his agency to Katsuki - for when he went pro, like they obviously knew he would - but his mind wasn't on them.

The kid with the rabbit mask... that had to be the same kid from the park He was wearing the same clothes, had the same hair, same height and build, and that mask... Sure, people might not recognize him on the street, but Katsuki had gotten a close look at him. Had looked him in the eye.

Right in that freaky, black and red eye.

Who was he? He looked younger than Katsuki but he was already fighting villains like he was a pro. There hadn't even been the slightest bit of fear in that kid's eye when he rushed in to pull Katsuki from the sludge.

Dammit. He couldn't believe how weak he'd been. How scared. Not only had he failed to get himself free, he'd started _crying_ in front of a crowd of people! And why!? Because he'd hallucinated Deku was there and had left him to die!?

Never mind the fact that he would deserve it anyway if that was in fact what happened, Katsuki couldn't forgive himself for thinking of that loser in what were almost his last moments when he had spent the last three years trying to forget about Deku. He blamed the emo fuck for showing up and stirring up old wounds.

Next time he saw Emo Kid he was going to get some answers. About his weird-ass quirk. How he'd gotten that strong.

And why he'd saved Katsuki.

* * *

Nobody noticed as Yagi slipped away from the crowd. Of course, as sickly and broken as he looked, most people avoided paying attention to him when they could. Which suited him just fine. It made certain things easier.

Like avoiding the paparazzi, observing situations without drawing attention, and noticing a young boy dressed all in black with a large backpack slung over his shoulder creeping out of the next alley over while everyone else was occupied with the heroes and police making the arrest. He followed carefully, keeping to a safe distance so it appeared more that he was just walking in the same direction as the boy rather than following him.

Yagi still didn't know for sure that it was specifically All Might the boy was afraid of. Maybe it was heroes in general. Maybe it was _adults_ in general. Either way, he'd be more careful in his approach this time. Didn't want to scare him off aga- _Hey!_

With no warning given, the boy took off at a run. What happened? Had he noticed he was being followed? _Shit!_

Breaking into a run as well, Yagi struggled to keep up with the boy, but within seconds he'd been left behind. Once again, he'd lost him.

Still, he wasn't going to give up on that boy. For now he'd settle with going to the police with a tip about a boy wearing the same clothes as Black Rabbit exiting the next alley over. He could also check missing persons reports over the last few years to see if he could find anything. Something about his scruffy appearance and skittishness screamed 'runaway' to Yagi. The battle with the sludge creature seemed to indicate this wasn't his first big fight. Maybe he could dig up old police records and see if he could find anything that matched this kid's quirk.

And, of course, once he had his strength back, he'd pound the pavement and resume the search himself.

That kid was too dangerous to be left on his own. At the same time he had too much potential to be allowed to waste. He wasn't a suitable candidate for _that_ , oh no, but regardless Yagi wasn't going to let the boy waste away on the streets a moment longer than he had too.

As he strode back towards the crime scene, where the police were still busy questioning the middle schooler who had been taken hostage, it occurred to Yagi that there was someone else he might ask about Black Rabbit. But not now. No doubt the boy wouldn't take kindly to what appeared to be a sickly-looking stranger pressing him for information right after what must have been a traumatic experience.

But maybe, after he'd gotten a chance to recover, he'd be willing to talk to All Might.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : What? Two updates in one day? Honestly, I was really excited to write the scene at the end of the chapter. Even Katsuki got to shine a little brighter than he had the first time. Sorry All Might. Didn't mean to sideline you like that. Well, I kinda did. Another thing I liked about this chapter is we get to see a little more of Katsuki. On the outside, it doesn't seem like he's changed much, but some of his personal thoughts regarding himself and the people around him have shifted somewhat. He's about two degrees left of an asshole than he was before. Of course, most people don't immediately notice the difference between ninety-eight degrees and a hundred degrees.

Poll time; I've hit a crossroads where I feel like I can write the story in two distinct ways and have it be good, but I'm not entirely sure which one I like better.

Scenario one, All Might successfully locates Mikumo, potentially becomes his legal guardian, and has him enroll at U.A. by official recommendation in order to help get him off the streets, teach him to use his powers for good, and give him a food supply that doesn't require he hurt anyone - via donated samples from someone with a regenerating quirk of from cadavers donated to science. Katsuki finds out he's really Izuku much sooner and it will follow the canon plot line more closely (the biggest con, in my opinion.)

Scenario two. All Might fails to find Mikumo. He continues living on the streets while the rest of the cast goes to school at U.A. as normal. He has frequent contact with each of the students, particularly Katsuki, as he watches the movements of Shigaraki and tries to avoid being detected by the pro heroes or captured by villains. Rumors of a serial killer who targets criminals continue to circulate. Katsuki doesn't find out he's really Izuku until much later and there's more divergence from canon (biggest pro, but also takes longer to write.)

 **Edit** : For all those asking, yes, the title is a reference to the song 'White Rabbit' by Egypt Central. Also, regardless of which scenario I ultimately choose, don't think that Izuku's suffering will come to an end. Whether he's living on the streets or attending U.A, boy's gonna suffer.)


	4. I Am Here (Won't You Leave Me Alone?)

Well, there went his plans for staying in a motel.

Mikumo had come to stop in front of an electronics store, where several expensive television sets on display were all set to the same news channel, which was currently playing footage from the incident with the slime villain. Mikumo hadn't even realized there were cameras on him that early. They'd gotten the mask, the ukaku, everything. Sooner or later, Shigaraki would see it and come to Tatooin and Orudera searching for him. It would be safer, for himself and for others, if he limited his contact with other people.

Fortunately, he had a spot in mind. Back when he was Izuku, and back when Izuku and Katsuki were still friends, they'd had a certain spot in the woods they often went to play by themselves; their own secret base.

( _"Kaachan, you're so cool!" little Izuku chimes as he and Katsuki march through the woods. He's carrying a butterfly net in his tiny hands while Katsuki is bravely leading the way. "I hope when I get my quirk it's just as cool as yours!"_ )

( _Katsuki turns and flashes him a wide, cocky grin. He's gentler somehow, his expression more boyishly playful and competitive than malicious or cruel_.)

( _"It doesn't matter what quirk you get, you'll never be able to beat me!"_ )

Mikumo walked that same trail now, towards the abandoned fort the two boys had made in the woods. It was a bit odd, the memories that were only just resurfacing. It was probably because of how they'd met again, never mind the fact that Katsuki didn't recognize him. Although he and Katsuki had known each other since practically infancy, they hadn't really been friends since they were in preschool, when their quirks manifested. Well, Katsuki's quirk manifested.

Would it be wrong to say Mikumo's - rather, Izuku's - quirk had manifested in the womb? The original Mikumo probably didn't think so. What would Katsuki have thought of his quirk if he'd been allowed to tell people about it? Maybe Katsuki would have done everyone a favor and blown him up back then.

Even before running away, Mikumo hadn't come out to this spot in years. He doubted Katsuki came here anymore either. That was what made it perfect. It was isolated, nobody came here, so he could sleep through the rest of the day in peace, and after dark he could walk to the next town over to hop another train.

Apparently not long after he'd gotten off the train a hero-villain fight had broken out and Mt. Lady had destroyed part of Tatooin Station, meaning it was under construction for the time being. Just his luck.

He slowed to a stop, taking in the sight of the wooden boards hammered haphazardly to a cluster of trees in the very center of the woods. Considering it had been done by two very determined four-year-olds, he was honestly surprised it had held up so well. What had they used to hammer the nails in again? Rocks? Where had they even gotten the nails from? Mikumo couldn't quite remember.

Back then the secret base had seemed like a huge castle for the two small boys. Now it was only just big enough to hide him and his backpack from view. That was fine. He could sleep in cramped spaces easily.

Mikumo had to crawl on his belly to get inside. He shoved his backpack in first before climbing in, not bothering to be careful of all the protruding nails and splinters. It wasn't like they could hurt him anyway. Once he was inside he unzipped his backpack and pulled out the other two hoodies to ball up and use as a pillow. He shoved the bag in the farthest corner before curling up, knees drawn up, hands tucked under his chin, and settled down for some much needed sleep.

He felt oddly... safe here. Strange. Mikumo had almost forgotten what that felt like.

* * *

The police had kept Katsuki for hours, questioning him about his experience with the sludge villain and pressing him for details about the weirdo they kept calling Black Rabbit. Katsuki had tried to be somewhat polite with them at the beginning - meaning he'd only cussed at them every other sentence - but as time wore on and their dumb repetitive questions kept coming and coming, well, no one could really blame him for being a little cranky after what he went through, right?

Not that he told them exactly everything. He didn't hold anything back when it came to describing how the fight went, but when the police started asking him about the boy in the black rabbit hood he found himself keeping certain things to himself. He probably should've just told them that the Black Rabbit was some twelve-year-old kid he'd seen kicking middle school seniors' ass in the park earlier, but he didn't want them finding that kid first. He didn't know whether to call it intuition or a gut feeling or what, but Katsuki got the impression that it was important he find the kid first.

By the time they finally let him go it was already dusk. One of the cops offered him a ride home in a police cruiser, but Katsuki turned them down. He knew he was in for all sorts of hell once he got home, especially considering he was still all covered in slime and - _shudder_ \- blood. He needed some time to get his thoughts in order anyway.

He ended up walking past the park where he'd run into that kid earlier. Where he and his friends used to play as kids. Did he have any friends? Those two assholes from earlier definitely didn't count. They'd run screaming as soon as that shit stain nabbed him.

In the end, the only person Katsuki had been able to count on was the kid who acted like he was scared shitless of him.

What the hell was that? The kid faced down an _actual_ villain without flinching but spooked the second Katsuki raised his voice at him.

That was kind of messed up, wasn't it?

With an irritated scoff, Katsuki tore his eyes away from the park and continued walking, letting his feet decide his direction while his mind wandered. A lot of people liked to think he was stupid because of the sloppy way he dressed and his gruff speech pattern and mannerisms, but that wasn't the case. Katsuki was good at putting two and two together, when he took the time to stop and do the mental math.

The kid wasn't wearing a school uniform even though it was a school day, and his bag contained clothes and food - well, coffee - not textbooks. Truant maybe? That might be part of it. His clothes were dirty and didn't fit quite right and, well, to be frank, the kid reeked. Bad. Like he hadn't showered in weeks. Probably because he hadn't.

Thinking back, it should have been obvious. Katsuki kicked himself for not realizing it sooner. Kid was a runaway. A runaway with a pretty tough quirk. Was that why he knew how to fight like that? But then why did he act like such a chicken in front of Katsuki?

There was more to it. He didn't know what it was, but he was going to find out.

...Somehow.

Fuck, now that he thought about it, how was he actually going to find the kid? Katsuki had no idea where he would go. His best shot was of running into him by chance, and with that being the case the police and heroes had a much better chance of finding him first. If that happened the kid would be returned to his family or put in the foster care system or something and Katsuki would lose his chance to talk to him for good.

Fuck.

Angrily, Katsuki kicked a stone on the sidewalk. It flew, bouncing off of a light post and hitting a nearby trashcan with a loud clang.

Everywhere he walked eyes followed him and people whispered. A few people even walked up to them and tried to strike up conversation or congratulate him on finishing off the sludge villain, or ask if he was alright and 'gasp, is that your blood!?' Katsuki only glared and told them to fuck off.

He needed someplace he could be alone with his thoughts. Someplace other than his house where his dad was waiting to fuss and his mom was waiting to chew him out. He couldn't deal with people right now, even if they were praising him. It wasn't like he did all that much. He only got captured and then finished off a weakened enemy after some punk had done the real work. That wasn't something to be proud of.

One place did come to mind. Katsuki hadn't been there in years but he knew he would be completely and utterly alone there.

Ignoring all the eyes on him, Katsuki made his way to the woods beside his old elementary school.

* * *

Somehow, the secret base looked a lot shittier than Katsuki remembered it. All jagged edges and slanted boards. Jesus, how had he and Deku not gotten tetanus when they played there as kids? Especially with all the roughhousing they did... well, he did. Deku had always been kind of a wimp.

With an irritated sigh, Katsuki approached his and Deku's old base. How long had it been since he'd last come here? Honestly, he'd nearly forgotten about it. He might not have even thought about it at all if not for that twisted dream he'd had the previous night and running into that kid who reminded him of Deku.

It was a lot smaller than he remembered it being. Had he ever really been that tiny? It seemed impossible that he'd ever managed to fit inside that thing, let alone with another person. Katsuki knelt, pulling his phone out of his pocket for its light as he inspected the inside...

And momentarily forgot how to breathe as his eyes landed on a tiny curled up form amidst all the splintered wood and protruding nails. Who... what...?

Wait, he knew who this was. It was hard to see the face because the kid seemed to have crawled into the tiny space head first and the light from his phone didn't quite reach all the way in, but Katsuki was certain this was the same kid from earlier. 'Black Rabbit' or whatever it was people were calling him.

How the fuck had that emo fuck found his and Deku's secret hideout!?

" _What the actual fuck do you think you're doing here!?_ " Katsuki snarled approximately two seconds before realizing what a stupid mistake that was.

Instantly the kid jolted awake. Katsuki felt a pang of actual panic as the kid's head collided with the top of the crappy little hut - which, yes, was as full of rusty nails as every other surface - with a loud _thunk_ and then an intense red glow filled his vision. Now Katsuki was jolting back as the kid's wing manifested and tore though the old wood and trees and nearly got him in the face. Shit. Fuck!

Katsuki knew he'd fucked up.

The kid's wing was flailing through the collapsed remains of the secret base but Katsuki couldn't see much of the kid's actual body. Dropping his phone on the ground, he scrambled to grab pieces of wood and unbury the kid without getting rusty nails driven into his hand but the wing flared and lashed at him and he couldn't get close. At this distance it didn't seem that much like flame. There wasn't any heat radiating from it, and Katsuki swore he could see something like a vein moving around inside it. Maybe he could grab the kid by his wing and pull him out that way. He had to try.

Steeling himself, he reached for the wing-

" _Aargh!_ "

And reeled back in pain as the edge of the wing sliced a line across the palm of his hand. Katsuki hissed, inspecting his hand as blood welled to the surface and running down his arm. Fuck, that stung like a bitch!

While Katsuki was distracted by the pain in his hand the kid managed to push himself to his knees and claw his way out from underneath the collapsed ruins of the secret base. The moment he was free he took off, leaving behind both Katsuki and his backpack.

Katsuki snarled as he took off after the kid.

"No you don't!"

The kid was fast. Stupidly fast. Faster now that he had that wing of his out. But Katsuki had secret weapon. Launching himself into the air, he aimed his palms behind him. Heat built as he prepared to fire off a blast-

 _FUCK!_

A large blast, a normal one, went off in one hand while with his injured hand Katsuki was only able to summon a pitiful little spark that sent waves of pain across his palm. He was thrown off balance, crashing painfully into the forest floor with a strangled cry. Fuck. Son of a- He couldn't let the kid get away...

Mikumo skidded to a halt as a pained cry reached his ears. His heartbeat was thudding in his ears, but he still heard Katsuki's voice as clearly as though they were standing right beside each other. He turned, finding the explosive boy kneeling in the dirt as he cradled his bleeding hand. Feeling the guilt creep in, he walked slowly towards Katsuki, ukaku receding back into his body.

Katsuki didn't react as he drew near and Mikumo began to worry that he'd injured him more seriously than he first thought, or maybe he'd suffered some internal injuries from the sludge creature. Hand shaking, he reached out towards the other boy.

"Are... a-are you oka-?"

Katsuki's good hand shot out and grabbed his arm in a vice grip. Mikumo went rigid, his eye transforming as he tried to wrench free but the world spun and the next thing he knew he'd been slammed on his back and Katsuki was on top of him, hands clamped around his wrists and pinning them to the forest floor.

"Got you!" Katsuki growled, grinning in triumph.

Underneath him the emo kid thrashed and struggled trying to get free. He was insanely strong for someone his size, but Katsuki spent every day of his life training, building muscle, and managed to keep the kid pinned. Albeit, with a little more difficulty than he would have expected.

"Would you hold still!?" he snarled, flecks of spit flying into the kid's face. "I'm not gonna- STOP MOVING DAMMIT!"

Flinching, the kid did as he was ordered, going completely rigid underneath Katsuki. Katsuki was satisfied for a moment, until he noticed the slight tremors wracking the kid's body. Slowly he lessened his grip as the rage seeped out of his face.

This kid was terrified out of his mind.

* * *

 _The fear of pain is almost worse than the pain itself. He can't get out, can't get away. There's nowhere to run. He's not allowed to fight back._

 _He needs to get away. He needs everything to just stop._

 _So it does. So he does._

 _Everything falls away._

 _The forest floor, the vibration of crickets chirping, the warm, sticky blood from Katsuki's wound; he can't feel any of it anymore. He can't feel anything anymore._

 _Akatani Mikumo stops existing._

* * *

"Hey."

No response. Katsuki's heartbeat pounded in his ears. Was he... Did the kid just...?

"Hey. Wake up." A light smack to the face elicited no response. " _Hey!_ "

Still nothing, but underneath the hoodie he saw the slow rise and fall of the kid's chest and resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Okay, the kid wasn't dead, but he wasn't moving or responding either. When Katsuki waved his hand in front of the kid's face he didn't so much as blink. Maybe he was in shock or something.

As he stared at the unresponsive face Katsuki realized that the kid had been wearing his hair the other way earlier, during the monster fight. Now, and when they'd met at the park, the kid was wearing his hair over his right eye, but during the battle he'd worn it over his left eye. The left eye looked perfectly normal. Human. But during the battle, the right eye...

Katsuki stared at his hair. If he moved it now, would he see that same freaky eye from before? Gently, he brushed the kid's hair from his face, cursing at himself as his heart rate accelerated.

Nothing. Rather, the kid's right eye looked normal too. This close, Katsuki could see how green his eyes were. How many freckles dotted this kid's pale cheeks. Just like... It was eerie how similar this kid was to Deku.

' _How do you know it isn't Deku?_ ' a voice in the back of his mind asked.

Because Deku was dead. And quirkless. This kid wasn't him. Besides, even if Deku was alive he'd be fourteen by now. This oldest this kid could pass for was twelve.

Katsuki poked his cheek, hoping for a response. Nothing. It was like someone had flipped a switch in his brain and the kid had just... shut down or something. Katsuki wasn't going to get any information out of him while he was like this. He couldn't just leave him here either.

The kid didn't look too heavy.

Katsuki climbed off of the kid, watching him carefully for some kind of response in case it was a trick, but the kid just continued staring up into space, completely unaware of his surroundings. He didn't resist at all as Katsuki scooped up his limp body into his arms and carried him back down the path leading out of the woods.

Ah, he forgot about the kid's backpack. Well, whatever. He could come back for it in the morning.

* * *

When Mikumo 'returned' he was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. He blinked slowly, brain working to piece together how he'd gotten there. He had vague memories of watching someone carry someone else, but he couldn't make out the faces or details. Everything had been gray and fuzzy... like watching an old movie on a bad TV monitor.

Slowly he sat up, pushing the covers aside. As he did he realized he was no longer in his dirty, sludge-and-blood-soaked clothes. Now he was wearing a too big orange t-shirt with a graphic of a mushroom cloud on it and a pair of bright red shorts. Where were his own clothes? Where was his backpack for that matter? It didn't seem to be in the room, unless whoever had brought him here had stuffed it under the bed or in the closet or something. Rolling onto his side, he leaned over the edge of the bed and peeked underneath. Welp, it wasn't there.

He took a deep breath, sat back up, and then reviewed the situation at hand, biting his lip hard to keep himself from mumbling aloud.

He didn't know where he was, though there was a familiar scent in the air.

Someone had changed his clothes while he was... gone.

His belongings were nowhere to be seen.

So, what was the last thing he remembered?

...Kaachan.

Mikumo blinked, startled as a certain name and face immediately flashed through his mind. That's right, the last thing he remembered was being startled awake by Katsuki. He'd accidentally destroyed the secret base before running and then... and then...

Taking a deep breath, Mikumo forced himself to calm down and then went back to piecing his memories together.

Katsuki had been hurt. By his ukaku. He couldn't use his explosions to propel himself properly and crashed. When Mikumo went back to check on him Katsuki captured him. Okay, that much he remembered clearly. What next?

Next... He'd been so certain that Katsuki was going to hurt him. Just like he always did. He'd been so angry...

( _Izuku trembles as he stands between Katsuki and the crying boy that had been Katsuki's original target. Katsuki just smirks before letting off a small explosion in his hand_.)

( _Izuku can't fight back. He isn't allowed to. He's not allowed to let anyone know about his quirk. Katsuki and his two followers don't hold back, using their quirks to beat down little Izuku_.)

( _When it's all over he's lying beaten and bruised in the dirt. His body is covered in small burns and welts. The kid he'd saved is apologizing profusely, but it's okay. He'll heal soon. It's better that he's the one that got hurt instead of someone else who's less durable and takes longer to heal._ )

Instinctively, Mikumo started looking over his arms and legs for wounds, but oddly enough, there wasn't a scratch or scorch mark to be found. Odd. He knew he'd gotten more and more durable over the years, but even so Katsuki's explosions should've left at least some kind of mark, right?

Actually, Katsuki's explosions had gotten a lot more powerful over the years. As far as Mikumo was concerned, he should have been missing limbs. Not that he was grateful he wasn't. Regenerating a missing limb took a lot longer than just healing an injured one.

Maybe... someone had encountered the two of them in the woods and saved him from Katsuki? It seemed a little too convenient, but then he hadn't expected Katsuki to be there either. Now that he thought about it, why _was_ Katsuki at the secret base in the first place? As far as he remembered, Katsuki never went out there anymore either. At least, he hadn't before Mikumo left home.

Did Katsuki recognize him after all? Cold fear punched Mikumo in the stomach. If that was the case, why wasn't he dead already?

He needed to leave. Find his backpack and his clothes and leave tonight. Take a train out of the city and go somewhere so far away he'd never have to worry about someone recognizing him again. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and jumped up, eyes scanning the room.

Work out equipment. Not his backpack. Desk covered in homework and comics. Not his backpack. All Might posters. Not his backpack. Door. Closet maybe? Hopefully his backpack would be inside. He hoped it hadn't been left behind in the secret base, or worse, thrown away.

Mikumo opened the door to find it crammed full of more work out gear along with boxes of All Might figurines - someone really liked All Might, apparently - a bunch of shoes, some books and comics, and clothes, all haphazardly shoved inside. His backpack was nowhere to be seen. If whoever had brought him here had put his backpack inside, it probably would have been thrown on top... right?

Maybe it was in another room. Failing that, he could always go back to the secret base and hope it was there. He'd grab it quick and leave before Katsuki came back.

Footsteps. Voices. Mikumo's heart leaped into his throat. Someone was coming.

He had to get out, now.

* * *

As he'd expected, Katsuki's mother was furious with him when he knocked on the front door long after the sun had set and the street lamps were lit. The fury melted away to motherly concern, however, when she saw the unresponsive child dangling in Katsuki's arms. Then she got pissed all over again when she saw the blood covering Katsuki's uniform and injured hand.

He still hadn't told her that the kid was the same person from the sludge villain incident. As far as Mitsuki knew, Katsuki had stumbled across the kid sleeping on a park bench by himself and he'd decided to bring him home out of the goodness of his heart.

' _You have a heart?_ ' Katsuki's inner demon taunted in the back of his mind. Lucky for him he had lots of practice ignoring that voice.

At the moment the kid was upstairs sleeping in his room - wearing some of his old clothes - while his dad was busy making dinner and Katsuki - freshly showered - and his mom sat on the couch watching television, him drinking a soda and her drinking a beer. The news report about the incident earlier was still playing, much to Katsuki's chagrin. When the camera zoned in on his face as he struggled in the sludge, eyes wide with fright and tears forming, he let out an irritated growl.

"Assholes. They don't show the bit where I blew that shit stain to pieces," he snapped, veins on his forehead bulging. His mom laughed.

"Suck it up, champ. That's media for ya. Just wait 'til you're a pro. Then those fuckers will be zoning on every little thing you do, especially the mistakes."

Katsuki scoffed.

"By the way..."

Mitsuki's eyes were still trained on the screen, where they were now showing a clip of the emo fuck - Black Rabbit - slicing through the freak-show's eyes. The wound itself was censored with a pixelated blur, but Katsuki wasn't going to forget the sight of those massive eyeballs leaking blood and mucus.

"You got to see that rabbit kid up close, right? Any idea who it is?"

"If I knew who the it was I'd be out there kicking his teeth in right now," Katsuki replied.

"Oh really?" His mother shot him a disbelieving look, one eyebrow raised and the corner of her mouth twisted upwards slightly in a smirk. "I couldn't help noticing the stray you picked up is dressed exactly like Black Rabbit. Care to explain?"

No. No he didn't. Katsuki grabbed his soda and took a big gulp.

"I also couldn't help noticing in the video that that little shit was a bit smaller than my little shit. About the same size as the kiddo sleeping upstairs, isn't that right?"

Dammit. His mom may have been a foul-mouthed hag, but she wasn't stupid.

"I don't know who he is," Katsuki finally said. "I saw him in the park earlier fighting against a bunch of older kids over something stupid. And later when I went looking for him I found him sleeping-"

(In mine and Deku's secret base.)

"-under a park bench, but when I tried talking to him he flipped the fuck out and then just..." He gestured vaguely as he struggled to find the words to describe what had happened. "Shut down."

Mitsuki raised an eyebrow.

"The hell's that mean? He 'shut down?'"

"Hell if I know!" Katsuki snarled. "One second he's throwing a temper tantrum, next he just stops moving and goes all blank like a zombie or something!"

"A temper tantrum, huh?" Mitsuki mused aloud. "Is that how your hand got fucked up?"

Katsuki snorted. His wound was bandaged now. Apparently when he'd tried to set off that blast earlier in his injured hand he'd torn it open a little wider, and his mother'd had to apply butterfly stitches before wrapping it. It was going to make writing a pain in the ass for a while.

"Pretty much. Brat doesn't like being woken up."

"Duly noted."

Mitsuki pondered over Katsuki's words. The child had 'shut down,' huh? Maybe she should take him to the doctor's when he woke up. She hadn't seen any obvious injuries when she'd been changing his clothes, and though the baggy outfit he'd been wearing earlier made him seem scrawny at a glance, in truth the kid had some muscle under there. It was just that it was lean muscle, built for speed, unlike her son's more brawny build. He at least seemed physically healthy, but who knew what kind of psychological trauma the kid had gone through? That episode of unresponsiveness her son described didn't sound quite normal.

Her husband's chiming voice from the kitchen snapped Mitsuki out of her thoughts.

"Dinner's ready!" he announced cheerfully. "Katsuki, why don't you go see if our guest is awake yet? I'm sure he must be hungry."

"Maybe I should do it," Mitsuki suggested before Katsuki had a chance to respond. "If the fist thing the kid sees when he wakes up is our son's ugly mug he might just have a heart attack!"

"HEY!"

Mitsuki was only half-joking.

She left Katsuki seething on the couch as she climbed the stairs. The door to her son's room was covered in stickers of 'DANGER' signs and mushroom clouds along with a center sign that read, 'Katsuki's Room: Stay the fuck out!'

"Hey kiddo, you awake in there?" Mitsuki called through the door. No response. Maybe he was still asleep.

Well, he could sleep more after dinner. No doubt the kid was starving. She threw the door open, and then narrowed her eyes at the sight of the empty bed. Ah. So that's why he wasn't responding. The window above Katsuki's bed was still shut, and she hadn't seen or heard anyone come down the stairs earlier. After a cursory inspection of her son's - very messy - room and even a quick peek under the bed, her eyes landed on the closet door and every memory of her little Katsuki hiding in there when it was time for him to do chores flashed through her mind.

"Huh, I guess he gave me the slip," she said aloud as she walked back to the bedroom door. She shut the door a little harder than necessary before walking in place, making sure her footsteps could be heard before softening them as though she was getting farther away. Then, she waited.

Time ticked by slowly. Mitsuki kept her eyes trained on the closet door, the corners of her lips pulled upwards in a knowing smirk. There was a muffled shuffling from inside. And then, ever so slowly, the door creaked open.

The child Katsuki had brought home poked his head out nervously. The second his eyes landed on her he froze. She offered him a gentle smile, and then a wave, but that only prompted him to retreat back into the closet and pull the door shut again.

"Hey, don't be like that kiddo," she said as she approached the closet. Mitsuki knelt so that if - when - he opened the door again she wouldn't be towering threateningly over him. "It's alright, I'm not gonna bite yer head off or anything. My son found you in the park and brought you home. How're ya feeling?"

No answer. Kid must've been pretty scared. Poor little guy.

"My name's Bakugou Mitsuki. You wanna tell me your name kiddo?"

Still no answer. Not the talkative type, she guessed.

"Well, if you don't wanna tell me that's fine. But you should probably come outta there. It's gotta be pretty damn cramped in my son's closet. I know he's disorganized as fuck." She shifted on her knees as they started growing sore from her crouched position. "My husband just finished making dinner and he's the best cook I've ever met. You wanna join us?"

Silence. It seemed like she wasn't going to get an answer again. Mitsuki had her mouth open to say something out when the closet door cracked open and the child peeked out.

"You don't..." The child's voice was so soft. Like he was afraid of speaking too loudly. "Do you know who I am?"

Mitsuki offered him a gentle smile.

"I know you saved my idiot son's life earlier, if that's what you mean, Black Rabbit-chan."

He pushed the closet door open wider and stared at her for several long moments. There was something strange in his expression that didn't seem to quite fit on a child's face. Like he was trying to read her or something. What was behind this boy that he behaved with such instinctive distrust?

After what seemed like an eternity he cautiously stepped out of the closet, shutting the door behind him. Funny. As timid as he seemed at a glance, he didn't seem to have any trouble looking her in the eye.

"Why don't you join me and my family downstairs for dinner? I know my husband would very much like to meet you. And I think my dumb ass son owes you some gratitude."

"N-no! That's, um..." He bit his lip.

"Ah, don't worry about Katsuki. He's a major asshole, but if he gives you a hard time just let me know and I'll beat his ass for ya, alright?" She flashed a wide, cheerful grin. "So, you gonna tell me your name or what?"

"...Akatani... Mikumo."

Finally. Progress was being made. Feeling more confident, Mitsuki offered Mikumo a hand.

* * *

Masaru wouldn't let Katsuki begin eating until everyone was seated at the dinner table. That left Katsuki switching between messing with his bandages and drumming his fingers irritably as he waited for his mother to come back with the shitty brat. He straightened up in his chair as the sound of a door opening and closing again reached his ears, and a few minutes later his mother appeared in the entrance to the dining room, emo kid at her side.

Emo Kid tensed the moment his eyes landed on Katsuki. Katsuki met his eyes with a sharp glare before the tension was broken by his mother giving the kid a pat on the back. The kid jolted, as though he'd forgotten Mitsuki was there.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Akatani Mikumo!" she introduced him with a warm, cheerful smile. Mikumo's face stayed blank. "Mikumo-chan, I'd like you to meet my wonderful husband, Masaru."

Katsuki's dad smiled and nodded towards Mikumo.

"And my dumb ass son, Katsuki."

Katsuki snarled, pounding the table with a clenched fist as he leaped to his feet.

"Fuck you hag!"

"Sit down and shut up!"

Mikumo's expression didn't change, although one eyebrow did inch slightly higher at the display. Masaru laughed sheepishly at his wife's and son's banter.

Soon enough everyone was settled in their seats and the Bakugous were digging into their meals. Well, Mitsuki and Katsuki were digging in. Masaru was eating at a much more reasonable pace. Mikumo, however, wasn't eating at all. He just stared at the plate in front of him with an unreadable expression on his face. Katsuki raised his head from his food, noodles still dangling out of his mouth as he raised an eyebrow at Mikumo.

"Mikumo-chan, aren't you going to eat?" Mitsuki said, giving voice to Katsuki's thoughts. Although, she worded it more politely.

"No, I'm... not really that hungry," Mikumo replied. So the little fuck finally spoke. It was different from how he sounded when he was talking to that slime bastard or those shitheads in the park though.

Katsuki's fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He glared daggers at Mikumo from across the table before lowering his next bite of steak.

"Hey asshole, my dad worked hard cooking this so you better not fucking waste it."

"Don't be a dick, Katsuki," his mom snapped - though Masaru had allowed a pleased smile to slip onto his face - before turning to Mikumo with a friendly smile. "Are you a vegetarian, Miku-chan? You don't have to eat the meat if you don't want to."

"No, that's not it," he insisted. "I just, um... My quirk makes it so I don't need to eat very often."

Katsuki had never heard of a quirk that did anything like that. He'd heard of quirks that made people have to eat more often. Or quirks that made people have to eat unusual things like metal or wood. He could imagine the ways something like that could come in handy.

"How often do you eat?" Masaru asked, staring at Mikumo curiously.

"About once a month."

All three Bakugous stared at Mikumo incredulously as the child shifted nervously in his seat.

"It's enough for me," he added after a long, uncomfortable pause. He was avoiding eye contact now, beads of sweat forming on his face.

"A growing boy needs to eat," Masaru stated, giving Mikumo a firm nod. "How old are you? Eleven or so? That's about when your body will start changing the most. You need that energy."

Mikumo fixed Masaru with an odd look, opening and closing his mouth as though he wasn't quite sure what to say. Katsuki rolled his eyes before grabbing his half-empty can of soda and raising it to his lips.

"Actually I'm fourteen," Mikumo finally said.

Katsuki abruptly choked on his soda.

"Oh..." Masaru said awkwardly while Mitsuki pinched the bridge of her nose.

"See, that's why you need to eat more," she said, ignoring her son's spluttering. "Your body needs food to grow. C'mon kiddo, two bites. Please?"

Frowning, Mikumo stared at her, then stared at the plate in front of him as though it might jump up and bite his face off.

"If you don't eat it," Katsuki warned, "she _will_ try to cram it down your throat."

"Katsuki," Mitsuki said sweetly, "be a dear and shut the flying fuck up before I shove my foot up your ass."

With a sigh, Mikumo picked up his fork and knife and started cutting pieces off of his steak. Mitsuki and Masaru seemed satisfied and returned to their own meals while chatting about how their days went and the usual stuff. Katsuki kept his eyes on Mikumo just a little longer. To him, it was like watching someone try to choke down horse crap.

* * *

It was like eating boiled leather. Mikumo tried not to think about the horrid taste or allow any emotion to show on his face as he just focused on the repetitive chewing motions until the cow's flesh in his mouth had been reduced to mush.

' _Swallow. Swallow. Don't throw up. Swallow_.'

He forced it down past the painful burn in his throat, feeling his stomach revolt the second the steak hit it. One bite down. Katsuki's mom had said 'two bites,' but she was probably expecting more than that. He could do this. As long as he focused on the motions and not the taste.

He ended up eating half of his plate before asking to be excused.

* * *

 _Scritch scratch scritch scratch._

[ _Chaos shook the normally peaceful Tatooin district earlier today as an unknown C-ranked villain wreaked havoc after taking an Orudera Middle School student hostage. Police and heroes were unable to get close due to the spreading flames and the hostage's volatile quirk when an unidentified child - dubbed 'Black Rabbit' by some of the locals - stepped in to save the day. Although no details are known about the child at present, the quirk he used to face off against the dangerous criminal bears a striking resemblance to descriptions given over the past year of a serial killer who targeted and killed over twenty petty criminals. Authorities have declined to state whether or not today's hero has any connection to the serial killer._ ]

 _Scritch scratch._

The only light in the room came from the single television monitor. Cold red eyes watched the battle between the second-rate criminal and the boy in the rabbit hood unfold. 'Black Rabbit,' huh? Well, he could see where that nickname came from, with the ears on his hood and the way he bounced around like a bunny avoiding the sludge monster's attacks. He knew the boy's true name though.

 _Scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch._

"I've found you, my Yamikumo-chan."

Blood trailed down the column of his throat where his nails broke through skin.

* * *

Katsuki's face screwed up in disgust as he listened to the sounds of someone being sick through his bathroom door.

' _Don't force yourself to eat it if you're just gonna throw it back up, idiot_ ,' he thought, though he couldn't quite bring himself to shout that out loud. The kid had toughed it out just to make Katsuki's parents happy, after all. Didn't mean he couldn't be annoyed as hell.

He waited until the disgusting noises came to a pause before knocking on the bathroom door.

"You done puking your guts up?" he demanded.

Several moments passed and he didn't get an answer. For a second he started to think that Mikumo had passed out over the toilet bowl, but then Katsuki heard the telltale sound of the toilet flushing. Seconds later he heard the sound of the tap, then running water. Okay, so the little fucker was just ignoring him. Katsuki clenched his good hand as he felt heat build in it, but he resisted the urge to let off an explosion and destroy the item he was holding.

"Whatever. Don't use my toothbrush. The hag got you a new one from the drugstore." A slight pause. "We threw your clothes in our laundry too, so you can have those back after you take a goddamn shower. You smell like you've been rolling around in a dumpster."

Mikumo still wasn't talking to him, and although there was a part of Katsuki's brain that was vehemently reminding him that it was kind of warranted - considering he'd scared the shit out of the kid and caused him to go into a state of shock and then basically kidnapped him - that didn't stop him from being slightly _livid_.

Fuck, did Mikumo have to flinch and clam up _every_ time he saw Katsuki!? Getting answers was going to be like pulling teeth. He still hadn't gotten the kid to talk to him directly.

( _"It's okay," he says, voice muffled by the mask. "You aren't going to die."_ )

...Okay, he'd gotten the kid to talk to him once. But Katsuki wasn't going to pick a fight with another villain or something just to get Mikumo talking to him again. What was it about that situation that the kid was okay with when he was so terrified of Katsuki now?

' _Maybe it was because you looked so scared and helpless_ ,' an imaginary voice jeered.

Katsuki growled under his breath, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall across from the bathroom door. His fist was clenched around the still packaged toothbrush and he had to concentrate to keep himself from blowing it up in his hand.

The heat dissipated as the bathroom door creaked open. Mikumo didn't open it wide, or even bother to step out. He just stuck his hand through the space and held it out expectantly. Katsuki rolled his eyes before shoving the toothbrush into Mikumo's outstretched hand. Instantly the kid retreated back into the bathroom, door slamming and clicking behind him as he locked it. Katsuki ground his teeth, hand smoking.

' _He's just a shitty kid, he's just a shitty kid, he's just a shitty kid_.'

"For the record," he hissed, "I didn't need your help earlier. I woulda beaten that shitty bastard on my own eventually."

Katsuki wasn't expecting a response, but he got one.

"Okay, I'll let you die next time."

...The fuck?

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY YOU LITTLE SHIT!?" Katsuki roared as he slammed his good hand against the bathroom door and let off a blast. The door was blown off of its hinges and flew into the bathroom sink where the scorched wood splintered into hundreds of tiny, smoldering pieces.

Mikumo - who had jumped to the side moments before the blast - stared at the remains of the door in shock.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" Mitsuki's voice came from downstairs, followed by footsteps on the stairs. Oh fuck, he was in trouble.

"Katsuki, you spoiled little shit, what did you do!?" Mitsuki roared as she turned the corner and came upon her son, hand still smoking, standing in front of the destroyed bathroom door. Seconds later Mikumo cautiously tiptoed over the splintered remains before running to Mitsuki and hiding behind her, using her as a barrier between himself and Katsuki. He was still clutching his wet toothbrush in his hands.

"You little shit, are you picking fights again!?"

"He fucking started it!"

"Grow the fuck up! He's a little kid Katsuki!"

"He's _literally_ my age!"

Ignoring him, Mitsuki looked down at Mikumo.

"You hurt kiddo?" Mikumo shook his head. "You can use mine and my husband's bathroom. I'll bring you some clean clothes later, okay Miku-chan?"

He nodded before turning and scampering down the hall. Katsuki seethed as he glared at the kid's back.

"Katsuki, what the actual _fuck_ is wrong with you?" Mitsuki sighed once she heard the door close behind Mikumo. "You know you're going to pay for breaking that door, right you little shit?"

"That kid's pissing me off!" he hissed. "He's making fun of me, I know it! Why the fuck would he be scared of me when he held his own against that sludge bastard!?"

"Well gee, I dunno Katsuki, maybe because you're a violent little prick who keeps screaming and swearing and blowing shit up!?"

...Okay, she had a point. But it wasn't like he'd _actually_ hurt the kid.

"Katsuki, you know that Mikumo-chan was probably abused, right?"

That... hadn't occurred to Katsuki, but thinking about it it didn't really surprise him either. But why was Mikumo so calm when fighting the bullies and the shit stain and then cowering and pissing himself at the sight of Katsuki? Because he knew he could win against them but not him?

Actually... that could probably be it. The bullies weren't all that strong, despite their quirks, and Mikumo had gotten in a sneak attack and blinded the shit stain at the start of their fight. But Katsuki wasn't like them. He was smarter and stronger, and even though he'd had some... difficulty with the slime bastard he wouldn't fall for a sneak attack like that shithead had. He could take Mikumo in a fight, and apparently Mikumo knew that.

Narrowing his eyes, Katsuki looked away, the tension draining from his body and heat dissipating from his palm.

"Look, I'm not asking you to be his best friend or anything. But please, for once in your life, could you reign in the temper and not act like every little thing is a personal attack against you?"

"...Fine."

Mitsuki flashed her son a small smile.

"Look, tomorrow after your father and I finish with our hospital visit we're taking him to the police to see if we can find out where he came from or if there's anyone looking for him. And we're going to need you to keep an eye on him while we're out."

Katsuki furrowed his brows.

"Wait, _what_? We're sending him back to his shitty parents!?"

"Calm down brat, we don't know for sure he was being abused by his parents. He could've been kidnapped, or maybe it was a different relative. But trust me, if it _was_ his parents he ain't going back with them."

* * *

Mikumo hardly moved a muscle, not even to blink, as he leaned against the bedroom door, ear pressed against the wood so he could hear every word between Katsuki and his mother. He didn't even breathe too deeply, as though either of them could could hear his soft breaths through the door.

"I'm not just gonna ship him back to wherever he came from without getting the whole story. I'm sure Mikumo-chan would have gone to the police on his own by now if he was trying to get back home, but for whatever reason he's not. The situation's... delicate, so you can't just Katsuki it up like you always do."

"...Did you just use my name as a verb?"

"Sometimes I use it as an expletive too. Now go downstairs and help your father clean the kitchen. I'm gonna make sure Miku-chan's okay."

There was some grumbling from the other side of the door, like Katsuki was protesting under his breath.

"Do it, you little shit!"

Mikumo didn't stick around to listen any more. So that's what they thought, huh? Well, at least they didn't seem to recognize him. And it was kind of nice seeing Katsuki's parents again, despite their misguided attempts at 'helping' him. He remembered them being nice people.

In any case, he really needed that shower, and to get the taste of steak and bile out of his mouth. He located the door to the parents' bathroom and slipped in quietly, hoping Mitsuki wouldn't realize he hadn't gone there straightaway. When Mitsuki finally came in to check on him, he'd finished brushing his teeth and was in the shower.

* * *

Once he'd finished with his shower and changed into the new clothes Mitsuki provided - another of Katsuki's t-shirts with the word BOOM in bold red letters with a graphic of an explosion behind it and a pair of orange sweatpants - Mikumo proceeded to check the windows for a way to slip out. He didn't really want to leave his own clothes behind, but...

Unfortunately Mitsuki caught him in the act of attempting to slip out the second-story window. He didn't know what it was, but something about that _look_ made him shamefully climb down and shut the window behind him. Then she invited him downstairs to watch television with the rest of her family.

They spent a couple of hours watching television together, Mitsuki and Masaru on the couch pressed close to one another, Katsuki sitting by himself in the armchair playing with his phone instead of really watching, and Mikumo sitting on the ground a few feet from the television screen, arms wrapped around his knees which were drawn up to his chest as he watched the program. He hadn't watched a whole lot of television over the past three years that wasn't news. Apparently the sitcom they were watching now had just come out in the last year and was really popular. Although it was silly, Mikumo found himself getting absorbed in the weird story rather quickly.

The network played two episodes in a row and then Masaru declared it was time for bed for the kids. At first he and Mitsuki were planning on having the two of them room together but after Katsuki blew up the bathroom door they collectively agreed that it probably wasn't the best idea. Instead Masaru would sleep on the couch while Mitsuki and Mikumo would sleep upstairs. They thought it best he not sleep alone, just in case he tried to sneak out again.

For a long time after Mikumo went to 'sleep' Mitsuki sat in her bed, reading a book by the light of a lamp right at her bedside. Keeping his eyes closed and breaths nice and even, Mikumo patiently waited for her to get tired and go to sleep herself so he could sneak out in the dead of night...

Suddenly the sun was up.

* * *

Luckily it was a Sunday, so after all the bullshit and drama Katsuki got a chance to sleep in. Of course, the first thing his parents did when he showed his face that morning was tell him to go clean up the mess he made in the bathroom. It had taken him forever to get every last splintered remain of the bathroom door.

By the time he was finished his parents were already leaving to go visit Inko. Normally he went with them, but this time they decided he would stay behind to keep an eye on Mikumo. Masaru was a little hesitant, but Mitsuki insisted that it would be fine. Mostly because of the threat of what would happen to him if he lost or hurt Mikumo.

It was just past noon when Mikumo finally decided to show himself. Katsuki didn't say anything as the kid crept down the stairs, or even look away from the television screen. When he heard the creak of the floorboard near the front door, however, he spoke up.

"Breakfast is in the fridge." Even without looking, he could picture the way the kid flinched at the sound of his voice. "Eat whatever you want that won't make you sick. After you're done eating we're going back to the woods."

He didn't hear Mikumo walk into the kitchen or get a response. He wasn't really expecting one. Several moments later, however...

"Why?"

Katsuki blinked, not sure at first he hadn't imagined the voice. He craned his head over the back of the sofa to look at Mikumo, still standing by the front door wearing his own black clothes. Mitsuki must have set them on the end of the bed before she left that morning.

"Why what?"

Mikumo shuffled nervously.

"Why are we going to the woods?"

"To get your backpack stupid," Katsuki growled before turning his eyes back to the TV. "You don't wanna leave it out there forever, do you?"

"Uh, no, but..."

"But what?"

"...Nothing."

Their pitiful conversation died after that. There were footsteps, but Katsuki didn't hear the front door open, so that was good. He was only half paying attention now. Most of his focus was on the sounds coming from the kitchen as Mikumo found the oatmeal Katsuki had refrigerated for him. It was supposed to be easier on his stomach than the steak and noodles.

After a while it seemed like he could relax. The kid was eating quietly and not trying to run away. After blowing up last night and promising his mom he wouldn't 'Katsuki' the situation he didn't think he should be questioning the kid now, though he doubted he'd get a chance to after they brought him to the police. Whatever. He'd wait until Mikumo was done eating, at least.

The sound of quiet gagging shot that plan to hell.

"Jesus. Are you making yourself sick again?"

Katsuki clicked the TV off and then tossed the remote on the coffee table. He made his way into the dining room, where he found Mikumo hunched over a - now nearly empty - bowl of oatmeal with a hand clamped over his mouth. Yup. Kid was definitely making himself sick again. With an irritated huff, he grabbed the bowl out from under Mikumo's nose and went over to the trashcan to dump it out.

"Hey!"

"Look, don't force yourself just to make anyone happy. You think the old hag would be okay with you making yourself sick like this!?"

"But... she worked hard making it..."

" _I_ made it, and it's just instant oatmeal, dumb ass!" Katsuki tossed the now empty bowl in the sink and then reached for the cupboard to his left. He grabbed a plastic cup, filled it with tap water, and then shut off the faucet. "Here, try not to puke."

Mikumo accepted the cup wordlessly and gulped it down. Katsuki watched as the kid drained it in a matter of seconds.

"Once you're feeling better we're heading out. Also, you better not even think about trying to run away."

Mikumo wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve and nodded. Satisfied, Katsuki went back to the living room to watch more TV. He'd just grabbed the remote and was about to sit down when the chime of the doorbell went off.

"That figures," he grumbled to himself as he tossed the remote aside again and went to answer the front door. It was too soon for his parents to be back from the hospital, so who- Didn't matter. He was cussing them out no matter who it was. With an angry snarl he threw open the door and shouted, "What the fuck do you wa-"

And froze when he saw who was on the other side.

* * *

( _Damn Mt. Lady and her reckless fighting style. It's because she went and smashed up the overpass that the two of them can't just take the bullet train directly to Tatooin. But, they're here now. Finally_.)

( _According to the news report the kid was last seen in the shopping district. No doubt he's fled by now. Still, he couldn't have moved through this heavily populated area without being seen by_ someone _, even if those people didn't realize who he was when they saw him. They just need to ask around, do some investigating. Pick up the trail_.)

( _The boss has been in a shit mood lately. It's high time they dragged the brat back home where he belonged. In pieces if need be._ )

* * *

Katsuki froze, eyes wide in disbelief as he saw who was on the other side of the door.

"Hello! I Am Here!" All Might proudly announced, flashing a sparkling white grin down at Katsuki. "Please pardon the intrusion, are your parents home? I actually was hoping to speak with you, but I wouldn't want to come in without their knowle-"

All Might stopped suddenly and the sound of something clattering noisily on the wooden floor reached Katsuki's ears. He whirled around, finding Mikumo standing in the middle of the living room with wide, terrified eyes, the cup he'd been drinking from rolling away from him.

As scared as he'd looked when he looked at Katsuki, Mikumo looked ten times more frightened now. Of All Might? Why-

Mikumo spun on his heel and fled.

* * *

( **Author's note** : This chapter turned out more chill than I'd originally intended, so of course I had to stir shit up for next time at the end there. Although the mental image of Mikumo in Katsuki's clothes is pretty cute. Too bad Katsuki's such an ass. I think I'm probably writing him mean enough. I liked writing the dialogue between him and his mom. Such similar speech patterns but such distinct personalities. Mitsuki's fun to write.

And now to announce the results of the poll!

 **1st place** with a whopping 2,062 votes (wait *how many* people have read my story!?) is:  
A combination of both scenarios, meaning All Might will either formally or informally adopt Mikumo, but Mikumo will not be an official U.A. student.

 **2nd place** with 1,407 votes (seriously, that's a lot of people!) is:  
Scenario 1, in which Mikumo would've become an official U.A. student.

 **3rd place** with 42 votes is:  
Scenario 2, in which Mikumo stays a street rat.

And to nobody's surprise,  
 **4th place** with a measly 3 votes is:  
Rainbows and unicorns. Everybody's happy and nobody suffers. Pffft, like that would ever happen.)


	5. We Steal, We Kill, We Lie

There were many things about being a hero that were difficult or even frightening, but there were wonderful things about it too. For All Might, seeing the excited, happy faces of the people he rescued or his fans was one of those wonderful things. He wasn't used to anyone - especially children - running from him in fear.

It was actually kind of painful.

"Ah, wait-"

The child didn't listen. He was up the stairs and out of sight in a second, the sound of a door slamming moments later.

"Hey, get back here you emo freak!"

All Might was snapped out of his stupor by the loud, aggressive voice of the middle school student he now knew to be Bakugou Katsuki. It came as no surprise that Katsuki failed to get any kind of response whatsoever from the child hiding upstairs. So they weren't on friendly terms after all? All Might rubbed his chin as he watched the blonde stew.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. I was hoping to talk to you about him, but I never imagined I'd find the Black Rabbit here."

Katsuki tensed, whirling around as though he'd actually forgotten All Might was at his door.

"What're you looking for Akatani for?" he demanded, sounding oddly put out. All Might's smile never faltered, but he fixed Katsuki with a hard stare. Even in plain clothes, he cut an intimidating figure.

"Ah, so that's his name? Well, you see, the truth is, I had a bit of a run in with him yesterday sometime before you were attacked by that sludge villain. I must offer my apologies for not appearing in time, by the way, but I'm glad things worked out. May I come in? I'd like to explain the situation fully."

It wasn't like anyone could really say 'no' to the number one hero. After fixing All Might with a glare of his own, he shrugged and stood aside so the giant of a man could enter his home. His parents wouldn't mind, not that he cared if they would or not. He grabbed a seat in his armchair while All Might took a seat at the end of the couch.

"So what's your deal? What're you looking for that emo freak for?"

* * *

Mikumo had run upstairs and shut himself in the first room he could reach, Katsuki's bedroom, but couldn't go down stairs to get his shoes. Well, it didn't matter too much. His skin was so tough that he wasn't worried about cutting his soles on rough terrain, though cold weather could still be a pain. But he could just go and grab another pair with the money in his backpack.

He could hear voiced downstairs. All Might and Katsuki were talking, not coming upstairs to find him. He had time.

' _Sorry Kaachan_ ,' he thought as he climbed on top of Katsuki's bed and unlatched the window. Hopefully Katsuki wouldn't be too mad at him for running away, even though he'd told him not to. Actually, Mikumo thought he would probably be relieved to have the annoying stranger out of his house.

The drop jarred his ankles and knees, but the damage wasn't serious. Shouldn't have been serious. Mikumo fell to a crouch, but when he tried to stand up he felt a stab of pain in his right knee that almost had him collapsing again. Odd. Any damage from such a small fall should have healed instantly. He could feel himself regenerating, but a lot more slowly than usual.

He didn't have time to think about it. He needed to be gone before either All Might or Katsuki noticed he was missing. Ignoring the pain in his legs - which was already fading anyway - he took off down the street, running straight for the woods.

* * *

"The truth is it started out as a personal interest," All Might said, "but after doing a little digging and discussing it with some of my colleagues, I've come to believe that young Akatani may be involved with a serial killer who's been targeting criminals over the past year."

For a brief moment the fight drained out of Katsuki. That kid... and a serial killer?

( _"Katsuki, you know Mikumo-chan was probably abused, right?"_ )

Could that kid have... no. No way. This was too stupid to even think about. The kid jumped whenever someone raised their voice. How could he have it in him to kill?

"You gotta be shitting me. There's no way that kid-"

"No no, I'm not saying he's a suspect or anything like that," All Might said, putting one hand up in a disarming gesture. "While it is true that a few witnesses reported seeing someone with a quirk similar to young Akatani's used during the murders, it's also true that blood relatives tend to have quirks very similar to one another's. I strongly believe he has a _connection_ to the serial killer, but this is all based on supposition."

For some reason... Katsuki was relieved to hear that. So was that the truth behind why Mikumo acted like such a weirdo? Did he run away from home because one or both of his shitty parents were serial killers and they beat the shit out of him when they weren't off murdering people?

' _And maybe that's why he's so terrified of you specifically_.' Oh great. This asshole was back. ' _Because he knows what you are_. Murderer.'

Katsuki swallowed.

"So... what? You're gonna take him?"

"It was my intention to ask you of his whereabouts," All Might replied. "Since he jumped to your rescue I thought there might be some connection between you two."

Katsuki bristled.

" _I didn't need rescuing_. I was seconds away from blowing that shitty bastard sky high before that emo freak butted his nose in where it wasn't wanted," he snarled. "And I never met him before yesterday. The only reason he's here now is 'cause I ran into him by accident yesterday."

"Ah, is that right? In that case, I suppose I should be thankful for this fortunate turn of events."

It _was_ kind of insane. All the things that had happened since this kid had shown up. A major villain attack, and now All Might too. Katsuki hadn't even realized the guy was in town. Frowning, Katsuki found himself wondering why the number one pro hero of all people was chasing down a runaway. Didn't he have more important things to do?

"So... What's gonna happen to him anyway? You just gonna ship him back to wherever he ran away from?"

All Might raised an eyebrow.

"We'll have to locate his family or legal guardians first but yes," he answered. "It's my intention to make sure young Akatani gets home safely."

"And what if his home isn't safe?" When All Might didn't answer and his expression didn't change Katsuki continued, "Like, what if he had a damn good reason for running away?"

"Young Bakugou." All Might leaned forward a little. "Do you have reason to believe young Akatani was abused?"

He flinched whenever he was touched, or whenever Katsuki raised his voice. He talked with a stutter, like he was scared of the sound of his own voice. He ran away his from home in the first place.

And the weird way he froze up when Katsuki had him pinned... Had he done that on purpose because he thought Katsuki was going to seriously hurt him?

' _Would that be out of character for you?_ '

"He's just... real jumpy, that's all."

All Might raised a hand to his chin and seemed to mull something over quietly. His facial expression didn't change much, so it was hard for Katsuki to puzzle it out, but All Might seemed pretty worried.

"I see. I suppose that would explain his reaction yesterday..."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Hey, what's the number one hero doing chasing down runaway kids anyway?" he asked. "Isn't that what the police are for?"

All Might stared at him for a moment, grin not dropping the slightest, before leaning forward a little, as though trying to physically reach Katsuki with his body and not just his words.

"Young Bakugou, tell me, what do you think a hero's purpose is?"

The hell kind of stupid question was that?

"To fight villains and beat them, _duh!_ "

"Well yes," All Might said. "But that's only part of it. Why do you think it's so important to defeat villains?"

Katsuki blinked.

"Why it's important?"

Because winning was _everything_. The most important thing. What else was there?

"In order to protect the people they try to hurt. You see young Bakugou, stopping criminals is only part of the job. It isn't constant combat and warfare. More important are the people whose lives and welfare are in our hands. That's why I couldn't just turn a blind eye when I discovered a child in need of help."

Katsuki listened without speaking, brows furrowing and eyes fixed defiantly on All Might's face. With each word he felt his hands clench tighter and tighter.

( _A little boy bawls his eyes out as he cowers behind the school. There are cuts and bruises covering his arms and legs. Fat tears are rolling down his cheeks which are flushed from how long he's been sobbing_.)

( _"Please stop! It hurts! Kacchan!"_ )

( _Katsuki watches the older kids tormenting Deku for a few moments before he turns his eyes and walks away, chatting excitedly with his followers. He doesn't think twice about leaving Deku behind_.)

' _In other words_ ,' the voice whispered, and Katsuki could picture the sneer on its nonexistent face, ' _you'd be a shit hero_.'

* * *

"Sorry, I haven't seen him."

"Hey, no problem. Thanks for your time!"

"It's no trouble. I hope you find your nephew soon."

Two men in business suits - one younger with neatly parted brown hair and round glasses, the glare of which hid his eyes, the other older with a tired, line-worn face and very short dark hair and a small amount of scruff on his jaw - bowed politely in thanks before the woman they'd stopped turned away and continued pushing her stroller down the sidewalk. They maintained their polite smiles until she was out of earshot, at which point the scruffy man sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

"How long have we been at this now?" he groused. "Even if we find someone who's seen the brat, he's probably long gone by now."

"Yeah, but what other choice do we have?" the bespectacled man replied, slipping the photo back into his wallet. "Try not to sweat it too much. As soon as we find someone who's seen him I can do my thing. Hey, maybe we can get a bowl of ramen while we're out looking."

"And of course, you'll stick me with the bill, right?"

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Spectacles replied, flashing a goofy grin, much to his partner's exasperation.

* * *

All Might didn't stay long after that. He was satisfied to know that Mikumo was safe with the Bakugous, and that they were already making plans to bring him to the police. Since his strong suit didn't lie in the field of investigative work, All Might was willing to leave it to them to determine if their was any connection between Mikumo and the unnamed serial killer.

After thanking Katsuki for his time and bidding him farewell, All Might was off, flashing him a final thumbs up before turning and leaving. Katsuki swung the door shut behind him with a scowl.

(' _More important are the people whose lives and welfare are in our hands_.')

Okay, Katsuki knew he wasn't the comforting, back-patting, saving kittens from trees type. Fuck that noise. But he could save people by beating the shit out of bad guys. He knew where his strengths lied. Fuck the voice. He was going to be the number one pro hero, better than All Might, no matter what it said.

...He should probably let Mikumo know that All Might was gone, so he could stop cowering and they could go get his shit.

"Hey, Emo Freak, he's gone now!" No response. "Hey, you can come out! Get your ass down here!"

Still nothing. Was the little fuck ignoring him or...

Shit, what if he'd gone into that weird state again? With an exasperated groan Katsuki stomped his way up the stairs and to his parents' room.

"Hey, Emo Freak, where the fuck are you hiding at!?"

It wasn't like he was expecting to find the kid hiding under the covers but Katsuki still couldn't help the trickle of dread that formed when he opened the door to find nothing. He searched the room over, checking the attached bathroom, under the bed, in the closet. All the places he would hide when he was a little kid. The entire time he kept calling out 'Emo Freak' over and over until 'Emo Freak' became 'Akatani.' Still no answer.

Okay, the kid wasn't in his parents' room, but he knew he hadn't seen Mikumo try to sneak by while he was talking to All Might and the window was still shut and latched... Would the kid even be able to make the jump from a second story window without breaking his legs or something? The average person wouldn't, not without a quirk to help them. What did the kid's quirk do exactly? He had that wing, his right eye changed color, and apparently he didn't need to eat very much. Did it do anything for durability?

Katsuki checked the hall closets and the laundry room. No Mikumo. Then he ran into his own room. It was closer to the stairs than his parents' room was, so it made sense that the kid would have run here first looking for a hiding place. Except, that's not what the kid was looking for.

The second he stepped foot into his room he saw the open window and knew what had happened. He ran to the window, kneeling on the bed and poking his head out as he braced himself for the sight of an injured kid lying broken on the ground below. Nothing, not even blood. Okay, so the kid made it out. The relief gave way to anger. He'd told the little fuck not to run off so why did he go and jump out the goddamn window for!? Katsuki was going to kill him when he found him!

"GOOOOOODAAAAAAAAAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" he snarled as he ran down the stairs, shoved his feet in his shoes, and burst out the front door as he ran off looking for Mikumo.

He didn't know how long ago Mikumo had slipped away but he knew the first place the kid would go. If the kid wasn't there...

Fuck, he didn't know what he'd do.

' _Can't even keep track of one kid? You really are a shit hero_.'

* * *

It was a huge comfort to have the familiar weight of his backpack on his shoulders again. His toes were a little numb from the cold - the air in the woods was a lot cooler than anywhere else in the Orudera area and the ground itself was quite damp - but the relief that he'd managed to get away from both Katsuki and All Might outweighed the slight discomfort.

Soon enough the elementary school came back in sight and he knew the road wasn't too far from there. Mikumo decided it might be a good idea to return to the shopping district and replace his shoes before making the trek towards the next town over. He was going to be walking for quite a while, after all.

There was the slight danger of running into All Might or Katsuki again, but now that he'd gotten their scents he thought he could avoid them easily. Today would go much more smoothly than yesterday had.

* * *

"Now that you mention it, I think I did see someone who looked like that earlier."

A relieved grin spread across Spectacles' face.

"Thank goodness! We were starting to worry we'd never find him!"

Behind him his scruffy partner nodded, and added, "We've been asking all day, but you're the first person who's seen him."

As he spoke his eyes swept across the convenience store. It was pretty empty for a Sunday, maybe because of the attack the previous day. Most of the nearby stores were still closed due to repairs so a lot of would be customers had gone elsewhere for their shopping, even though the convenience store itself was still open. Perfect. Smirk widening, he flipped the sign on the door from 'open' to 'closed' while his glasses-wearing partner closed in on the increasingly nervous shopkeeper.

"Sorry about this," Spectacles said as he removed his glasses. As he did the nervousness on the cashier's face gave way to confusion, and then absolute terror as he took in the hollow, empty eye sockets previously hidden by his glasses. "But I'm gonna need to borrow your eyes for a little while."

He hungrily licked his lips before striking. The scruffy man yawned in boredom as the cashier screamed in agony, grabbing an energy drink from the refrigerated section and popping the tab while his partner ripped out and devoured the cashier's eyes.

* * *

Katsuki wasn't all that surprised to find Mikumo wasn't at the secret base. Irritated as hell, but not surprised. By daylight, the sight of the destroyed clubhouse was somehow depressing. It was stupid. He could always rebuild it, even better, but what would the point even be?

More importantly, now what was he going to do? His mother was going to kill him when she got back from the hospital. He had to find the brat, but where on Earth would he have even gone? How was he supposed to know? He didn't know anything about the emo freak!

...Actually, that wasn't true. He knew some things, but would it be enough to find Mikumo?

Last night the kid had tried to sleep in the middle of the woods in a shoddily made tree house. He had nowhere to go and probably no one he could rely on. What would someone like that do? Well, obviously being turned over to the police wasn't part of the kid's plan, and clearly he didn't trust even pro heroes. With All Might hanging around the kid would probably try to move on as soon as possible.

But ever since that fight between Mt. Lady and some random weirdo the previous day the bullet train was out of commission, so how would he get out of town? Could that wing of his let him fly? No, during the battle with the sludge villain he'd jumped around a lot, but he hadn't flown or hovered or anything. Besides, he only had one wing. So that only left walking.

Katsuki hadn't seen the kid slip out the front door because he and All Might had been in the living room the entire time. Mikumo wouldn't have any shoes. Did the kid have any money? His clothes were dirty, but not all that old, so he might have some. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't make it far without replacing his shoes.

Tatooin Shopping District. There were tons of shoe stores there, a lot of them inexpensive. Even if the kid had no money stealing was always an option for runaways. It was the only lead Katsuki had. He took off running towards Tatooin, hoping he wasn't too late.

* * *

A small crowd had gathered outside the convenience store whispering amongst themselves while police formed a line to keep them back. Toshinori was just passing buy, hands stuffed in his pockets, when the whispering caught his ears. Curiosity piqued, he decided to listen in, just in case it was something his alter ego should be dealing with.

"What happened?" he overheard one man asking someone else in the crowd.

"Apparently the cashier was murdered," a woman answered, hand raised to her mouth in horror. "They're saying the culprit took the victim's eyes. It's really horrible."

Toshinori froze. A murder? One where the victim was missing body parts!? That sounded suspiciously like...

He had to go find young Akatani. He could be in danger...

Or, the more cynical part of him thought, the part he couldn't ignore no matter how much he wanted to, he could _be_ the danger.

He turned and ran back the way he came, towards the Bakugou household.

Toshinori never noticed the two men in business suits hanging in the back of the crowd, smirking to one another. He was already long gone by the time they turned around and continued on their way.

"Have you finished sorting through that guy's memories yet?" Scruffy asked before taking another swig of his energy drink.

"Not quite, but I think I got most of what I needed. Apparently the kid swung by here about half an hour ago. Didn't buy anything but he did start flipping through the hero mags until he got kicked out. Mumbled to himself a lot."

"He say anything useful?"

"Hang on, it doesn't work with sound, only images. This is why I taught myself to read lips," Spectacles snapped. Several moments passed as the glittering brown eyes now in his sockets stared off into space. His mind raced, sorting through the information that had been planted directly into his brain via his Photographic Memory quirk. "Hm... Seems like he was planning on heading to the next town over to catch a train."

"And he left half an hour ago you said? Shit. That's not a bad head start."

"Don't worry about it. Kid has no idea anyone's on his tail, and he's going on foot. We got the car."

"Yeah, he can just go wherever and we have to deal with traffic and giant assholes stomping on the street." Scruffy was still pissed about the bullet train being down, it seemed. "Whatever. How would someone get to the next town if they were going by foot?"

"Hang on, let me check." Spectacles pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up his map app. "Here, this looks like the fastest way out if someone wanted to walk out." He held up the screen so his partner could see. "If we take this road we should be able to cut him off."

"Sounds like a plan." As he spoke, the skin on Scruffy's arms rippled in anticipation. "Let's just nab this brat and get it over with."

* * *

The store clerks had been a little skeptical about letting Mikumo in without any shoes on his feet, but when he fed them a story about some bullies stealing his shoes and using a quirk to burn them they'd been sympathetic and let him in anyway, even offering him a discount and letting him clean off the soles of his feet in the bathroom. Feeling confident, he went on to explain he was planning to visit a relative in the next town over, but with the train down he was having trouble figuring out how to get there. They were more than happy to give him directions on the fastest route to take by foot. He felt a little bad for tricking them like that but once his feet were comfortably stuffed in a pair of slightly oversized red sneakers he bid them goodbye and continued on his way.

This time he was planning on leaving Shizuoka altogether. He didn't think he needed to go so far as to flee the country just to escape from Shigaraki, but leaving the prefecture seemed like a good step at this point.

By now he'd made it out of Tatooin. There was a long stretch of road between the small city and the next town over that was pretty isolated, except for a few passing cars. Litter lined the side of the street and as one car whizzed past a piece of paper blew by Mikumo's face.

It was shaping up to be a long, uneventful walk to the next town. So when a car suddenly swerved off of the side of the road into his path, screeching to a halt so suddenly it left skid marks on the road, Mikumo didn't know what to make of it. He stopped, completely stupefied as he watched two men in suits climb out of the car.

Mikumo tensed, taking half a step back as they advanced on him with smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes.

"Ah, there you are, Akatani-kun!" the guy with the glasses said, offering a friendly wave. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Seriously, do you know what a pain it was? Asking everyone in this stupid town if they've seen a specific annoying brat?" his scruffy looking partner growled. "That's a whole day I'm never getting back. Honestly, I'm kinda hoping you'll fight back just so I have an excuse to slice you up a little."

Narrowing his eyes, Mikumo shrugged his backpack off of his shoulders and slid into a battle stance. He collected his power and prepared to summon his ukaku-

...Huh?

Worry set in. Mikumo was definitely trying to call on his power, but nothing was happening. There was no familiar rush of warmth, no bubbling sensation on his shoulder where his wing would have burst out. Nothing. What-

Scruffy smirked, raising his arm.

Mikumo cried out in surprise as a blade shot out of nowhere. He dodged, but his movements were slower than usual and the blade sliced right through his skin. Skin that hadn't been cut by a tree house full of rusty nails the previous night or his mom's kitchen blades when he was young. Yet he felt the sting of his skin being parted and the warmth of blood rushing to the surface.

What the hell!?

Recovering quickly, Mikumo grabbed the fleshy tendril attached to the end of the scythe-shaped blade that had cut him and ripped it in his bare hands before sprinting off the side of the road, into the treeline. Spectacles and Scruffy smirked after him.

"They always wanna make things difficult, huh?" Spectacles laughed as his partner retracted his transformed arm, staring at the bloody stump as it regenerated.

"At least I get an excuse to slice him up for all the trouble. Finally, I get to have a little fun with this."

And with that, the two of them gave chase.

* * *

Katsuki was too late to find Mikumo in the shopping district, but that didn't deter him. He was nothing if not determined. He did manage to locate the store where Mikumo had gotten his new shoes. After talking to the clerks for a bit - shouting at them, rather - Katsuki learned that the kid was planning to skip town and had even asked for directions. Now he had those directions and knew which way the kid was going. He had ended up nabbing a bike from one of his classmates who cursed at him as he sped off. It would have been faster to propel himself with explosions, but his hand was still injured and even if it wasn't it was still illegal for him to use his quirk out in public like that. Something to do with causing car accidents or some bullshit...

He skidded to a halt as he came across a car stopped at the side of the road. It looked like whoever had been driving it had just driven off the side on purpose, and the back end of the car was still blocking off part of the lane, making other drivers have to change lanes to get around it. Weird.

Also weird, the backpack lying on the ground a few meters away. Dread started to pool in the pit of his stomach as he skidded to a halt and dropped the bike on the side of the road. That was Mikumo's backpack alright. Even without unzipping it to check its contents Katsuki knew who it belonged too. He also knew that stain on the strap and on the ground nearby was blood.

Fuck. What the hell was this kid involved with!?

If whoever was after Mikumo had captured or killed him already this car wouldn't still be here. He must have run off into the treeline. He might even be lying in wait to lose his pursuers so he could cycle back and retrieve his backpack. Or maybe he was planning on setting an ambush and getting in a sneak attack like he had with the sludge villain.

Either way, Katsuki wasn't the type to sit around and wait. If there was a fight going on, he was jumping in the middle of it.

* * *

He needed to hide. Set up an ambush. Like this, these guys were going to capture him easily. But his body wasn't responding as quickly as it should have. Why? What could have weakened him so much that-

( _The oatmeal tastes like cold play dough in his mouth but he keeps eating anyway. He doesn't let it sit on his tongue much, swallowing it in big gulps to get as much down as he can. Even though it makes his insides clench in pain he doesn't want to make Mitsuki sad. He can tough this out, just one more meal and then he'll never so much as touch human food again_.)

The oatmeal. Possibly even the steak and noodles from last night. He hadn't finished puking it up before Katsuki interrupted him, and truthfully hadn't wanted to. It seemed cruel to waste the food Masaru had worked so hard to make, but he hadn't realized human food could make him this weak. Still, it wasn't like he was defenseless. With or without his ukaku, he could kill these guys.

Then he'd eat their flesh and recover completely.

That was the plan, but first Mikumo would need to lose them. He could hear those men crashing through the bushes just behind him. Even if the tried to hide now he'd be found right away. Faster, he needed to go just a little faster-

Suddenly something whizzed through the trees and Mikumo felt a sharp sting across his back that quickly erupted into a burning sensation. The impact sent him flying forward into the dirt, and when he rolled over he could feel dirt pressing into the line of blood that had just been sliced through his back.

"Whaaaat? Is this all you're good for? Running away?"

Mikumo glared at the scruffy man as he reappeared through the trees. The man's left arm had been completely transformed, into three veiny tendrils tipped with scythe-like blades. Scruffy was wearing a malicious smirk, sneering down at Mikumo as he pulled himself up from the ground.

"Man, I don't know what the boss sees in you. This is pathetic."

The boss?

"Tomura sent you?"

"Oh, you hear that?" Spectacles laughed. "Kid has the gall to call the boss by his first name? Ah, now I'm _really_ curious about the boss's attachment to this kid."

"I guess that means I can't slice him up _too_ much. So I'll just cut off a _few small pieces!_ "

As he said that his tentacles shot out again, but this time Mikumo managed to dodge. He ran around a nearby tree, and the tentacle wrapped around the trunk chasing him.

"You think that'll slow me down?"

Scruffy smirked as his second and third tentacles sliced through the trunk of the trees and continued following Mikumo, but Mikumo kept pushing himself. He weaved between trees and under branches, causing the tentacles to slow down as they either had to wrap around the trunks or slice through them. The entire time he kept Scruffy in his sights, closing on on his right side.

Even if he couldn't summon his ukaku, Mikumo was plenty strong enough to kill with his bare hands. There was a limit to how far someone with a stretching quirk could extend their bodies, but it didn't matter. The man's power seemed to be concentrated in his left arm. If he closed in on the right side... Mikumo charged forward.

Scruffy watched him closing in with murderous intent.

Then, with a satisfied smirk, he raised his right arm.

Mikumo's eyes widened a fraction and he tried to dodge to the side, but he was too late.

Suddenly the scruffy man's right arm transformed, exactly as the left one had. Blood sprayed from Mikumo's wounds as the man sliced through his arms and stomach. No wait, not exactly like the left arm. Instead of scythes these tentacles ended in barbed tips that penetrated his flesh and hooked him. Mikumo was pulled towards Scruffy, while Scruffy's left arms retracted. Mikumo struggled to free himself, causing more and more blood to spill and irritating Scruffy further. The scythes on his left arm transformed from their metallic state to flesh, which reshaped itself into two more barbs like the right arm.

"STOP MOVING!" he snarled as the two barbed tentacles pierced through his calves as well. The tentacles penetrating his arms and legs spread apart, keeping displaying him like a butterfly on a frame while the final tentacle hovered near his face, the barbed tip hovering dangerously close to his uncovered eye.

Spectacles watched the whole thing with an amused smirk.

"This ended up being a lot easier than I thought," he mused aloud. "Hey, didn't the boss say this kid had a quirk that lets him regenerate? Do you think he'll be mad if eye..."

His stolen eyes zeroed in on Mikumo's long bangs as he licked his lips. Would the black and red eye taste different from a normal eye, he wondered?

"I don't see why not," Scruffy replied, brushing Mikumo's bangs from his face with his barbed blade. The tip cut a thin line across his forehead before coming to hover over the pupil of Mikumo's newly uncovered eye. "Now hold still kid. It'll only hurt worse if I don't make a clean cut-"

" _DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!_ "

An explosion sent Mikumo and the suited men flying in opposite directions. Mikumo hit the ground with a pained grunt, the severed and burnt ends of Scruffy's tentacles dangling from the barbs still embedded in his calves and wrists and stomach. The stench of smoke filled his nostrils and brought tears to his eyes. Coughing, Mikumo pushed himself to his knees.

"You shitty bastards wanna fight so goddamn bad?"

That voice! Mikumo's head shot up to the figure standing with their back to him, barely visible through the smoke. Even so, Mikumo knew who it was.

"Kacchan...?"

His voice came out so softly that even he barely heard it. Katsuki didn't notice at all, all of his focus on Mikumo's attackers. Little by little the smoke cleared, revealing the suited men standing several meters away.

Scruffy had taken the worst of the blast. His suit was singed and his entire front was completely covered in soot. The only part of him that was seriously injured however, was his tentacle arms. They had been completely blown apart, the ends flailing and spurting blood while Scruffy glared daggers at Katsuki.

Katsuki smirked back, a bloodthirsty grin spreading across his face while he raised his good hand and let off a spark.

"Then why don't you come and fight me!?"

"Go away."

Face twisting into a scowl, Katsuki turned to glare at Mikumo.

"Hah!?"

"This doesn't have anything to do with you," Mikumo replied, forcing himself shakily to his feet. Blood spilled from his wounds as he moved. With his bare hand Mikumo grabbed the sharp end of the barbed blade protruding from his wrist and pulled it all the way through before letting it fall limply to the ground. It thrashed for a moment before curling up and dying, like a worm in the sun. "I don't need or want your help." Blood was trailing down his face from the cut Scruffy had sliced into his forehead. "Get out of here."

Katsuki stared at the blood-soaked kid in sheer disbelief, taking in the sight of the barbs piercing completely through his arms and sinking deep into his stomach and legs. He watched a lot of violent television - both fiction and real life hero fights - but this was the first time he'd seen so much blood in real life at once.

"Are you fucking shitting me!?" he snarled, grabbing the kid by the front of his hoodie and pulling him so close that their noses nearly touched. "I just spent all goddamn morning looking for your ass after you fucking disappeared on me and you think I'm just gonna turn around and walk back after all the goddamn bullshit I went through!? Don't fuck with me!"

With that he harshly shoved Mikumo back so that he hit a nearby tree. Weak from eating the human food and from his injuries, Mikumo couldn't resist. He stumbled back and landed on his ass, his back hitting the tree. The bark slid roughly over the would on his back as he went down, spilling even more blood, and despite his training he couldn't stop the pained hiss that escaped through his teeth.

"Now now, that's not a very nice way to treat your friend," the bespectacled man chided, adding to Katsuki's mounting rage.

"He's not my friend! He's just some dumb kid I'm supposed to be watching!"

Mikumo frowned at the back of Katsuki's head.

This idiot. These guys weren't like the middle-schoolers he sometimes fought against, or the pieces of garbage he would blow up for fun. They wouldn't hesitate to kill a kid.

Why was Katsuki going this far?

"Is that right?" Scruffy said. His bleeding tentacles stopped flailing. Suddenly new tendrils burst from the split ends, making six tentacles total on his right arm. "In that case, just allow us to take him off your hands! Honestly, who'd blame a kid for losing against adults? Just say we overpowered you and took him by force! There's no reason for you to stick your neck out for some brat, right?"

Mikumo smacked his forehead. This guy just added gasoline to the fire.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Katsuki's roar could probably be heard for miles around. "DO YOU THINK I'M SOME KIND OF COWARD OR SOMETHING!? _HUUUUUUUUUUUUNH!?_ " He threw himself forward, lighting off another explosion in Scruffy's face. "I DON'T FUCKING LOSE, ESPECIALLY TO LOWLIFES LIKE YOU FUCKS!"

Barbed tentacles shot out of the smoke and aimed at Katsuki but he dodged out of the way easily and blasted those ones away as well.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"

Katsuki changed as he let off blast after blast. He was amazingly fast and strong - way more so than he had been three years ago - but somehow didn't seem as well balanced as Mikumo remembered him being back then. He watched as Katsuki launched himself high into the air with a blast from one hand. It would be more efficient to attack with the opposite hand, but instead Katsuki pivoted his arm and launched a barrage of explosions from above. The force of the blasts caused him to change direction and land meters away. It would have been better for him to get in close and aim for the main body, so why-

Mikumo caught sight of a loose bandage fluttering from Katsuki's injured hand. Ah, that's right. He'd done that. Shit, with one hand injured, Katsuki was at a major disadvantage.

Not that he seemed to think that. Katsuki was panting harshly but his mouth was pulled into a wide, toothy grin. It wasn't reassuring like the grin All Might was always seen wearing. If anything, it was more like an animal baring its fangs.

"How's that!?" he snarled as the smoke began to clear. His grin faltered as a shape became visible through the haze; a huge metallic shell made of overlapping plates that hid Scruffy's body from view. Before he could react a scythe-bearing tentacle shot out from behind the shield and cut deep into Katsuki's side. At first he didn't really register the pain. Then he looked down and saw the blood spreading as it soaked his t-shirt.

Katsuki couldn't help it; he screamed. He'd gotten in fights before, pushed his body to its limit until his muscles ached and his lungs burned. But never before had he experienced pain like this. The blade cut deep, and when the tentacle ripped itself out of the wound blood spurted forth like a geyser.

Mikumo watched helplessly as Katsuki fell to his knees, clutching the wound. Scruffy retracted his shield tentacles, the metallic plates turning back to flesh once more while the scythe came to rest above Katsuki's neck.

"Not good enough," Scruffy replied, smirking down at Katsuki's injured form. "I really should kill you for the trouble you've given us, but you might come in handy later. Whaddya think Kusaba-kun? Think Shigaraki-san might get some use outta him?"

Glasses-guy - Kusaba - shrugged as he strode past Katsuki and his partner.

"Sure, why not? Grab him and we'll pack him in the trunk. Assuming the kid doesn't bleed out before we get back."

Katsuki growled at them through the pain.

"You sons of- _Aargh!_ "

The scruffy one placed one foot on Katsuki's back and stomped him down before turning the tip of one of his tentacles into a blade and driving it deep into Katsuki's good hand. It went completely through, into the soft earth below. Katsuki grit his teeth to keep from screaming out again.

"Katsuki..."

Mikumo watched the display as the man called Kusaba came closer. He couldn't let this happen. This was why he wanted to leave the night before, why he told Katsuki to leave. If only he could summon his ukaku...

"Don't worry Akatani-kun, we're not gonna kill your little friend. Well, unless Shigaraki-san has no use for him, in which case I don't think we'll have much of a choice, but with a temper and a quirk like that, I don't think you have much to worry about."

"Go to hell," Mikumo hissed. Kusaba smirked.

"That was rude. Now, why don't you be a good boy-" He was standing above Mikumo now, kneeling down so they were nearly at eye level. "-and come along quietl-"

Mikumo lunged.

Kusaba screamed in agony.

Katsuki and the scruffy man watched in shock and horror as Mikumo's teeth sank into Kusaba's throat, tearing the flesh and causing blood to spurt everywhere. Mikumo chewed slowly, savoring the taste as Kusaba's blood splashed over his tongue. The man's body was still twitching under him, but he wasn't going to last long. Tears in his eyes, Kusaba craned his nearly severed head towards his partner, reaching for him.

"N-Naka... jima... k-kuunnnn..."

And then the light faded from his eyes. He'd died.

"W-w-what the hell!?"

The scruffy man, now Nakajima, was trembling. Katsuki could feel the scythe against the back of his neck shaking but his attention wasn't on the man keeping him pinned. He was staring at Mikumo as Mikumo lifted his head from Kusaba's torn, bloody throat. Blood was trailing down from the corners of his mouth, spilling over his chin and down his throat. When the wind suddenly picked up he saw that Mikumo's right eye had transformed again.

Was that how he got his power? By eating... people? Katsuki had heard of quirks that altered the way a person's taste buds and digestive system worked. He'd also heard of quirks that involved controlling people by drinking their blood.

But he'd never heard of a quirk that did anything like this.

Slowly Mikumo stood, his body no longer carrying any of the weakness from earlier. The wound on his wrist where he'd ripped the barb out started to close up, as did the wounds on his forehead and back. Mikumo ripped the barb out of his other wrist, and that one began to seal itself as well.

Nakajima glowered at the boy, his blade-like tentacle sliding out of Katsuki's hand and the scythe raising from his throat.

"Y-you..." Suddenly all nine of his tentacles shot towards Mikumo. "YOU FUCKING FREAK!"

Mikumo launched himself over six meters in the air. Katsuki lost sight of him, but then he saw the familiar red glow.

Blood splashed all over Katsuki's body. Seconds later the weight on his back disappeared. Nakajima slumped forward. Both pieces of him.

Katsuki's stomach lurched as he realized the man's body had been cleaved in two pieces.

"I t-told you I didn't need your help."

Mustering as much strength as he could, Katsuki forced himself to his knees, ignoring the pain in his side and blood spilling from his wounds. He looked up, finding Mikumo standing over him with a cold expression on his face. It was so unreal, yet Katsuki recognized the look in his eye. It was the same as when he'd fought he sludge creature.

"You..." Katsuki growled, trying to force himself to stand. His legs weren't responding. "What are you?"

A loud _boom_ somewhere nearby cut off whatever Mikumo was going to say. Tearing his eyes away from Katsuki, Mikumo turned his gaze in the direction of the road.

"...Tired."

The bite of flesh he'd swallowed hadn't been enough to completely revitalize him. It only gave him enough energy for one powerful attack. He'd poured all of his speed and strength into that attack, knowing he'd only get one chance or Katsuki would die. He was lucky that Nakajima had panicked and struck with all of his tentacle blades at once. It might not have worked otherwise.

But now that burst of energy was gone and he was crashing. The barb in his torso had torn through internal organs and the rest of his energy was being devoted to regenerating what was vital. That left him feeling very tired, and he slumped to his knees in front of Katsuki, his ukaku fading away.

Katsuki stared at him. This fucking kid... with blood dripping down his mouth and a man's flesh caught in his teeth. Who flinched whenever Katsuki raised his voice but had just cut down two people like it was nothing.

"Y-you sh-shouldn't... have c-come looking for m-me."

( _"I've come to believe that young Akatani may be involved with a serial killer who's been targeting criminals over the past year."_ )

Well, Katsuki could believe he was a serial killer now. Holy shit. He'd brought a serial killer into his house!

"S-soon 's my 'ands 're betterrrr..." It was getting colder suddenly. Katsuki blinked slowly, trying to will away the fog in his brain. "'M kickin' yer 'sss..."

He felt weirdly dizzy. Was the kid leaning closer or was that just the world spinning?

There was a pressure on Katsuki's chest and suddenly he was on his back. Okay, the kid had leaned closer, and apparently shoved him to the ground. Fuck. Now he was gonna get eaten like that other guy. Not how he always imagined he'd go...

Rustling of cloth. Hands skirting over the bleeding wound on his side. Katsuki flinched. Fuck, that tickled. He glared at the shadow pinning him down and tried to tell it to fuck off, but his tongue wasn't working right.

Something was ripping. He could hear it. Then he hissed in pain as he felt pressure on his side, right on his wound. Fuck, stop it! That hurt! The pressure didn't go away. Get your hands off me you emo fuck! He could feel something wrapping around his torso, hands working underneath his back, through the dirt. Dumb ass had no idea what he was doing. He was going to get an infection, wasn't he? Blood poisoning or something. He was going to die from shitty, half-assed first aid.

Katsuki growled. Whatever. He didn't even care anymore. He just let his eyes slip closed and darkness take him, just as he felt something brush over his hand.

Maybe he'd get to see Deku again. Probably not. Chances were, he wasn't going to the same place.

* * *

It was probably a bit morbid to use the ripped-up remains of Nakajima's jacket to make bandages. He was careful to use only sections of cloth that weren't spattered with the dead man's blood. Though who was to say Katsuki hadn't already been exposed when he sliced Nakajima in half?

He did the best he could with Katsuki lying uselessly on the ground. He was starting to grow delirious from blood loss, babbling half-formed words at him and making a few incoherent threats. The word 'fuck' made it through a few times.

Mikumo had just started wrapping his newly injured hand when another coherent word managed to slip through the mess:

"Deku."

He flinched. Had he been found out?

Katsuki's eyes were closed. He wasn't looking at Mikumo. He was probably only barely conscious. Mikumo relaxed a little, though he couldn't help being curious about why Katsuki would call _that_ name - that insult - right now. He tried not to give it much thought as he tied the knot over Katsuki's hand.

He could smell other people in the woods. One scent was familiar, and would explain the loud boom they'd heard earlier. Katsuki would be fine. These people would rescue him, but Mikumo had to get out of there fast. He didn't have time to eat a whole body, but he could take a small bite. He needed the energy. To escape, and to heal. Shifting away from Katsuki's unconscious body, he grabbed Nakajima's hand and raised it to his mouth.

Then he chomped his teeth down on two of his fingers and tore them from his body, letting the hand fall limp as he quickly ground the bones between his teeth and swallowed as fast as he could. He grabbed the barb in his stomach and ripped it out, tearing his flesh a little more but giving his body space to regenerate. Then he forced himself to his feet.

He couldn't afford to burn all his energy at once again, but he did need to be fast. Mikumo took off, as fast as he could without his ukaku, leaving Katsuki behind along with the mutilated corpses.

* * *

Investigative work was not All Might's forte. He was thankful for the cooperation of the police department. As it turned out, the murder at the convenience store was in fact related to young Mikumo, though not quite the way he'd half-feared, half-expected.

He'd been furious with himself when he returned to the Bakugou household to find both boys missing. He should have taken Mikumo into his custody right then and there! Thankfully the cops had managed to find a witness who claimed to have seen two men dressed in suits leaving the convenience store shortly before the body was discovered, and thanks to the witness they were able to identify the suspects on a traffic cam, as well as the car they'd gotten in.

When All Might had discovered that same car by the side of the road leading out of Tatooin, a very familiar backpack lying on the ground nearby as well as an abandoned bicycle, he had feared the worst, and called in the police to make a swift arrest as well as medical personnel just in case of the worst outcome.

If those men in suits hurt either of those two children, he would show no mercy.

As it turned out, it wasn't the children he needed to be worried about. Yes, Katsuki was in bad shape, but first aid had been applied and as the EMTs loaded him into the back of the ambulance they said that they'd gotten there just in time. Katsuki would recover, though it would be hard to say if he'd have full use of both of his hands.

The same could not be said for the two men, who were identified as Nakajima Yasumoto and Kusaba Ippei. 'Retrieval' specialists who used their quirks to track and subdue targets for high-paying clients. Recently they'd been less active though. What had driven them underground and for what reason did they suddenly resume their trade?

As they investigated the scene, police couldn't help noticing similarities in their corpses to those of the victims of a certain serial killer who'd become known over the past year; both were missing body parts. Kusaba, a chunk of flesh from his throat, and Nakajima two fingers. On top of that, Nakajima's body had been sliced cleanly in two.

One major difference between this and the other murders, however, was the fact that there were teeth marks where the flesh had been removed. All Might didn't want to consider the implications, but he didn't have a choice.

"All Might!"

The symbol of peace snapped towards the investigator who had called his name. It was one of the younger officers, and he was standing a ways away from the corpses and the spot where Katsuki's body had been lying.

"There's a trail of blood leading deeper into the trees," he said. "It could be the perp's."

All Might nodded and flashed him a thumbs up.

"Good work!" he said in English.

One of the older officers spoke up, shouting orders to the rest.

"Let's get a search team out there! Call in some dogs and-"

"No need!" All Might cut him off. "I'll conduct the search!"

"What?" one of the officers barked. "But-"

"Don't worry!" he assured them. "It will be faster this way!"

And like that, he was off, running so fast he sliced the air around him and caused the trees to bend in his path. He followed the trail of blood with his eyes as he raced through the trees, searching for young Mikumo.

* * *

He should have taken more. He shouldn't have wasted time bandaging Katsuki. The scent behind him was growing closer and closer. If he didn't hurry then-

"I AM HERE!"

A flash of yellow, and suddenly All Might was right beside Mikumo, keeping pace with no effort whatsoever. Mikumo grunted and sharply changed direction.

The wind rushed around him, changing direction sharply and then All Might was running alongside him again.

"Please, don't run! I just want to talk-"

He didn't have a choice. Mikumo's ukaku bubbled up from under his skin and his speed tripled. He raced ahead, leaving All Might in the dust.

For a grand total of two seconds. Suddenly All Might was standing right in front of him, hands on his hips, and Mikumo could feel his stamina running out.

"-to you. I'm not going to-"

He turned on his foot and tried to run in the exact opposite direction. All Might was already there, grinning as widely as ever and holding up one hand in a disarming gesture.

"-harm you, young Akatani!"

Mikumo skidded to a halt, panting harshly. This wasn't going to work. He couldn't escape. His ukaku dwindled away until it was a pitiful wisp on his back and he fell to his knees, chest heaving with each breath. All Might stepped closer and he forced his breaths to slow, never mind how his lungs were screaming at him for oxygen. He tensed, bracing himself for the pain.

Go away, he needed to go away. Just stop existing-

A large, gentle hand came to rest on top of his head before he could space out. Mikumo tensed, expecting that hand to curl around his skull and squeeze until his head burst like a grape, but that didn't happen. Slowly he opened his eyes, looking up at All Might.

"Are you hurt?"

...What?

He'd just murdered two people. There was blood dripping from his mouth and staining his teeth and All Might wanted to know... if he was hurt?

Mikumo stared at him in shock, his ukaku puttering out and fading. Despite himself, despite knowing he was probably going to be killed, he couldn't help smiling. He was starting to remember why he'd liked All Might so much as a little kid.

"You really are cool."

Then he let his exhaustion overtake him. No point in trying to fight now. He wasn't faster or stronger than All Might, and he was too tired to try to think his way out.

Maybe this was for the best. He'd had a pretty shitty life anyway.

* * *

White. Voices. Something was beeping nearby. Something metallic, with wheels. Cart maybe? People were standing over him. They were talking, but although he could hear their voices he couldn't make out their words. Someone's hand was on his, holding it tightly in their grasp, as though he might slip away. That was stupid. He could hardly move.

Then it went black again.

* * *

The second time Katsuki woke up he had more awareness of his surroundings. His body didn't hurt so much anymore, but he was fucking sore all over. As his eyes fluttered open and his fingers twitched something soft and warm suddenly wrapped itself around him and when he felt a face nuzzling into his hair he realized his mother had been sitting there, right next to the hospital bed he was currently lying in.

"Oi, hag! Let go of-"

His rant died almost as soon as it started. Dampness. Katsuki could feel something wet in his hair. His mother's shoulders were shaking. She was crying.

"Katsuki..." She was squeezing him so tight it was almost painful, but he couldn't bring himself to shake her off. "Please, don't ever do that to me again."

What?

Oh, right.

He'd almost died, hadn't he?

* * *

Mikumo's return to the waking world wasn't quite so disjointed. He woke up, and that was it. All of the barbs had been removed from his body and he could feel that his wounds had closed up. He immediately scanned his surroundings and knew he was in a hospital, and when he moved his hands and felt the clink of metal cuffs around his wrists he knew he was under arrest.

There was someone sitting by his bed. A strange, skeleton man dressed in a yellow striped suit with a blue tie. The suit was far too big for him, hanging off of his bony frame. There was something familiar about his wild blonde hair and dark-rimmed eyes, but what Mikumo immediately took notice of was his scent.

"Ah, you're awake," the skeleton man said with a familiar voice. "My name is Yagi Toshinori. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Akatani Mikumo."

No... that wasn't right.

Mikumo craned his head towards Toshinori, examining the man's scent.

"...All Might?" he whispered, voice slightly hoarse.

Toshinori flinched, his bright blue eyes that shone despite his haggard appearance going wide. Mikumo continued, ignoring his reaction.

"You're... All Might... right?"

* * *

( **Author's Note** : Poor Kacchan. Nah, not really. Honestly I was half-tempted to go ahead and kill him this chapter. It's not really *real* unless the main characters can and do die throughout the series, you know? But, nah. Katsuki gets to live to see another day. Honestly, I think it wouldn't have been too hard for him to beat these guys at full strength even before going to U.A. and being trained there, which is why I had to give him a slight handicap. No, it wasn't just 'cause I enjoy inflicting pain on him.

Earlier someone asked how Dad Might was going to keep his transformed state a secret from Mikumo. Well, there's your answer. He doesn't. Next chapter Dad Might becomes official, and Midoriya Inko may or may not make an appearance. Stay tuned!

Also, I apologize for excessive mistakes in this chapter. Honestly, it's 430am now and I'm too tired to do a proper check and too impatient to wait until morning. I'll reread this chapter tomorrow and fix anything I've missed.)


	6. White Room, Interlude

Katsuki was pretty ticked off when he found out he'd been in the hospital for two days before the first time he woke up. He didn't even remember that time, and apparently after that he'd been out for one day more. A few of his classmates brought him his homework while he was bedridden so he wouldn't fall too far behind, but he was still livid about missing so much school when there was so little time to get ready for U.A.'s entrance exam. He couldn't afford to have his grades slip, even the slightest bit.

Aside from doctors, he had a lot of adults coming into his hospital room and asking him questions. Katsuki didn't think all of them were police. Over and over again, he was asked countless variations of the same questions: What happened? Did he know who the men who attacked him were? Was he acquainted with Akatani Mikumo? Did he remember how the men who attacked them died? What did he remember of the fight? Over and over again, he answered their stupid questions until his already short fuse blew and he ended up screaming at them to get the fuck out of his hospital room.

It took a little less than a week for him to finally be released from the hospital. Thanks to one of the doctor's healing quirk he managed to regain full use of both of his hands, though both still bore ugly scar tissue. The doctors were quick to assure him that his sweat glands were still fully functional and he would be able to use his quirk as before. There was also the massive scar on his side where Nakajima's quirk had sliced through him. Katsuki had always imagined the kinds of battle scars he would get when he became a pro. Proof of fights he'd won. He figured he'd keep this one to himself.

As he was being discharged he found himself wondering what had happened to Mikumo. None of the not-cops would tell him anything when he asked, to his mounting frustration, and the hospital nurses and doctors said they had no idea who he was talking about. In the end, he had no idea whether or not the kid had gotten away, or where he had come from in the first place, or what exactly his quirk was. In the end he never learned anything about that freaky kid.

Except that he ate humans.

* * *

Mikumo had healed a long time ago, but they were keeping him confined to the hospital bed anyway. 'They' being a large number of doctors running tests on his body, a bunch of people he strongly suspected were police even if they didn't show any badges or wear uniforms, and All Might himself, appearing sometimes as he did on the news but more often coming in his skeletal form.

They injected him with a bunch of needles designed to treat patients with especially hard or tough skin, using them to keep him both hydrated and sedated. They never brought him any type of food, as though they already knew he wouldn't be able to eat it. Most of the time he didn't have the energy to do much aside from answer questions, and sometimes not even that much. Often when they would come in he would roll over on his side, pull the blanket over his head, and either doze off or pretend to be asleep until they left him alone.

There was one person he didn't mind talking to; a pretty, white-haired woman who seemed more like the doctors than the cops, even though she didn't wear a white coat or stethoscope or anything like that. She came in to see him a lot. While the others asked him things like 'how does your quirk work' or 'how did you kill those men' she mostly asked him about how he was feeling, talking to him about what he liked to do or where he came from. She tried talking to him about his family. Out of all of the people who came to see him, he liked her the most. He wouldn't answer her questions, but he still liked her well enough. She usually brought him empty notebooks and colorful pencils he could doodle with. Sometimes she got the doctors to decrease the amount of tranquilizers in his system so he would have more energy. When he didn't feel like answering questions they just talked about random things. She seemed nice. It was confusing, but considering he was handcuffed to a hospital bed and drugged he was thankful for her presence. The woman had a calming aura about her that made the whole experience of being confined less nerve wracking. Maybe that was because of a quirk.

Sooner or later though, he knew the brief respite would come to an end, and she wasn't the only person who came in to talk to him.

Of the people he saw most often, there was that woman as well as a plain-looking man in a trench coat. Although he smiled earnestly, Mikumo kept his guard up. He responded to questions, but with curt, monosyllabic answers when he could. The man, who introduced himself as Tsukauchi Naomasa, wanted to ask him questions about a bunch of people who had disappeared and died. Mikumo didn't recognize most of the names, but the faces he knew. Knowing remaining silent wouldn't do him any good, he pointed out the faces he remembered, either nodding or shaking his head with each image the man in the trench coat showed him.

That man fed his neighbor's dog meat with ground up glass mixed in it for peeing on his lawn.

That guy hit his wife and forced her to say and do humiliating things in public.

She poisoned her children so she could get attention and sympathy from her neighbors.

Not all of the people on the list were guilty of anything particularly bad, however. He hadn't killed all of the people on the list, but not all of the people he had killed were the guilty ones.

He didn't know the name of the man in the next photo, but he recognized his face. It was one of the targets Shigaraki had given him.

Mikumo's clenched fists trembled as he confessed to the murder.

From there, a whole new set of floodgates opened.

* * *

"He's capable of feeling empathy and remorse," Mado Akira said, eyes on the files in her hands. She'd been compiling page after page filled with information on Mikumo since the day of the first interview, noting every little thing he said or did. Now it was time for all of it to pay off. "It seems like he tried to limit his feeding to criminals where he could. However, it's clear that not all of his crimes were born of necessity. To be honest, I don't think he acted alone."

"I agree. It's likely he acted under someone's orders," Naomasa replied. "In the cases of the criminals he killed, those were often impulsive kills made as their crimes were being committed. That's why there were so many witnesses. The only reason we weren't able to locate him sooner is because most of those witnesses said things like 'I didn't get a good look' or 'sorry I don't remember.' Considering his actions ended up saving a lot of people, I think it's safe to say they were probably trying to cover for him.

"In the case of Adachi Rei and other investigators and law enforcement he killed however, it was an entirely different story. They were killed quietly, in remote areas without anyone ever seeing what happened. By the time those bodies were discovered he was already long gone. In addition, in those cases there usually weren't pieces missing from the bodies. The only reason we know for sure now he was even responsible - aside from his confession - is because we were able to compare the wound on Nakajima's corpse to theirs. On top of that, that crystal attack he used against the sludge villain accounts for the multiple puncture wounds we identified on several of those corpses."

For once, All Might was not smiling. He listened to Akira and Naomasa speak with a solemn expression on his face, eyes flicking every so often towards the door behind which Mikumo was sitting in his hospital bed. Although he was told the boy hadn't tried to escape once, that did nothing to ease his worries. In fact, his anxiety only grew. The boy wouldn't tell anyone where he'd come from or what his real name was - there was no one recorded as having the name Akatani Mikumo anywhere in the Shizuoka precinct, or anywhere else in Japan - yet he freely admitted to committing crimes that would warrant grievous punishments. For premeditated murder, the justice system would treat him no differently than an adult.

And yet, what choice did the boy have? According to the doctors who examined his body, Mikumo's quirk had the unique trait that it made him unable to live off of any type of food aside from human flesh. He could drink coffee, but that wouldn't sustain him.

"Two distinct sets of victimology, and two different MOs. Unfortunately-"

All Might turned his attention towards Akira as she continued speaking.

"-from speaking to him, I was only able to gather a few details. Akatani is extremely closed when it comes to his background, but it seems like he was made to be dependent on someone approximately three years ago."

"Dependent on someone? _Made_ to be?" All Might repeated, earning a nod.

"I constructed a timeline based on known murders in the Shizuoka precinct, details I gathered during my interview, and information provided by Tsukauchi. Based on his vocabulary and certain general education questions I managed to slip in it appears he received up to a sixth grade education. I believe up until that point he was living a relatively normal life until something drove him to run away from home. Considering he shows remorse for his nature, I think it's safe to say what that something was. Based on the timeline there is _one_ case of several homeless men being killed that I believe could have been committed by Akatani. However, this would be unique to the other cases in that teeth marks were found on the corpses."

All Might felt nausea creep in. Even if he told himself it wasn't Mikumo's fault he was like that, the mental image of a child devouring human beings was still repulsive. All Might didn't do well with gore.

"How was he not identified before now in that case?" he asked. Instead of Akira, Naomasa answered.

"Because so much time had passed between the murder and when the bodies were discovered that the decay made it impossible to identify the teeth marks. At the time, it was assumed that an animal had killed those men."

"However," Akira continued, "that was the first and only murder under those circumstances. Around that time, however, cases of people being found dead with body parts surgically removed or disappearing altogether began to crop up. Police checked in certain communities just in case it was someone with an animal-transformation quirk or something to that effect, but found nothing."

"It's too short a span of time for an eleven or twelve year old to go from haphazardly murdering homeless people and leaving behind the bodies to be found to performing such sophisticated murders," Naomasa said. "Evolution like that takes time. On top of which, the murders of criminals didn't begin until approximately a year ago, while the cases of people disappearing have been going on for much longer. I believe its likely someone who wanted to use Akatani's quirk for their own purposes took him in and likely kidnapped those people in order to keep him fed. If we assume this to be true, it would also explain what we saw in the video of him fighting the C-ranked sludge villain. He's no novice when it comes to combat, and he doesn't appear to be self-taught."

All Might nodded in understanding. He had noticed young Akatani's skill as well. As horrific as it was, it wasn't unheard of for criminals to kidnap children with particular quirks and try to force them into becoming accomplices, or even sell those children on the black market. It was a disgusting practice, and a new branch of law enforcement had even been erected to investigate and deal with these particular types of crimes. It was that branch that Mado Akira worked in.

"There is something off about that theory, however," Akira said, cutting off All Might's train of thought. "It should be obvious just by looking at the state of Akatani's body. Although he doesn't appear to starving exactly, there's obviously something off about his development. I do believe that what Tsukauchi said is partially correct, but based on what we know of his biology currently it seems he has to eat approximately his own weight in human flesh each month."

The image of Mikumo with human blood running down his chin flashed through All Might's mind.

"I don't believe he's been eating that much. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if whoever took him in kept him intentionally half-starved, at least for a time."

For a moment, fury stole All Might's breath.

"It's a common method kidnappers use to keep their victims weak and easy to control," Akira explained. "Although I'm certain at least part of it was reluctance on Akatani's part. According to Akatani he is fourteen now. Based on his appearance, I'd say his growth has been severely stunted. It's likely that whoever took him was using the people they kidnapped or harvested body parts from for other reasons."

"In the cases of the victims who had parts removed, it may be safe to say those murders were committed with the intention of feeding Akatani," Naomasa added. "The ones who vanished, we can't say for certain are connected, but the fact that they occurred in the same areas and at around the same time is worth giving consideration to."

"Earlier you said you thought young Akatani ran away," All Might said, "but now you're saying kidnappers?"

Akira nodded.

"It's possible that Akatani just happened to cross paths with whoever took him in," she said, "but while I do believe he left his home willingly, I also think whoever it was that picked him up tried to condition him to be totally dependent on them, the same way a criminal who kidnapped a child for a quirk would. It's hard to find physical evidence of abuse because of his ability to regenerate. There isn't a single scar on his body, not even where Nakajima's hooks penetrated his wrists and legs. However, I'm trained to search for certain behavioral cues in children that indicate physical, emotional, even sexual abuse, such as flinching when receiving physical contact or having a fear of authority figures. One of the doctors noted earlier that when they took some blood Akatani seemed to go into a trance-like state and didn't come out of it until after the tests were done. I believe he dissociates in order to escape pain he knows or at least believes he can't retaliate against."

It was like Katsuki had said. Now All Might thought he understood why Mikumo had been so afraid of him. If a villain really was attempting to groom Mikumo, he had also probably instilled a fear of pro heroes in the poor child to make it harder for him to reach out for help.

And yet, despite that, Akatani had exposed himself in front of a crowd to save that boy, Katsuki's, life.

"There's something else. I don't believe the villain's conditioning was entirely successful."

"Why is that?" All Might asked, feeling a bit hopeful at the news.

"Well for one, there was the fact that he confessed to his crimes so readily, but only specific ones." Akira answered. "My quirk allows me to instantly tell the difference between the truth and a lie. I know he was honest about who he did and didn't kill. Most villains who engage in these sort of grooming tactics would have trained him to take the credit for all of the crimes they were responsible for in order to absolve them of all responsibility.

"In addition, just looking at at the contents of his bag tell me he ran away... again. Clothes, the one type of food he can eat, and cash? Wherever he was staying before, he clearly wasn't planning on going back. Certain things he said and did during the interview suggested to me a strength of mind he wouldn't have if he was totally submissive to his captor. I believe that whoever it was, they overestimated their control over him and afforded him more freedom than they should have, and he used that opportunity to flee.

"It's for that reason... I believe whoever that person was is also young themselves."

"Oh? Why do you think that?" All Might asked.

"The profile Mado-san constructed of Akatani-kun tells us a little bit about his captor as well," Naomasa answered. "Whoever they were, they underestimated Akatani-kun and overestimated themselves. An older criminal wouldn't make a mistake like that. They typically show more sophistication in these cases. Of course, that doesn't quite fit with the murders in which people disappeared or had parts surgically removed, but we were already looking into the possibility of a group being responsible anyway. As far as Akatani-kun is concerned, however, we believe the person responsible for conditioning him may have been an older teenager or young adult."

"A child would be less likely to show such a person total obedience than they would someone who was older," Akira said, nodding along.

This whole situation was so messed up. Kids being forced to kill to survive. Kids kidnapping and abusing other kids. All Might's eyes went back to the door to Mikumo's room.

"So where does that leave him?"

Akira offered All Might a reassuring smile before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. It's true, normally children who use their quirks to kill would be tried as adults, but we have sufficient evidence to present this as a case of a child being coerced into committing murder. He'll only face punishment for the murders of the criminals, which were ultimately committed for the sake of survival, not vigilante justice. It helps that Akatani was so cooperative. I think we'll be able to convince most judges to accept your proposal."

All Might didn't realize how much tension he was carrying in his shoulders until he felt it drain out as relief swept over him.

"If you want," Akira said, "you can go in and see him. Just make sure not to raise your voice too much, and give him space if he needs it."

All Might nodded before reaching for the doorknob.

"Also-"

All Might paused before turning back to Naomasa.

"-try addressing him as Midoriya Izuku."

It took a few moments for the words to register. When they did, he spun towards the two investigators, shock evident.

"What!?" Both Akira and Naomasa shushed him as he momentarily lost control of his volume. He bashfully apologized in English. "I thought you said you couldn't find any information about his background?"

"I wasn't able to get any information from him directly, no," Akira clarified, "but thanks to the tests run by the doctors we were able to match his medical and dental information to the records of a person reported missing in this area about three years ago, matching the timeline I created."

As annoyed as he was about being allowed to misunderstand the situation, All Might was glad to hear they'd been able to find Mikumo's true identity.

"But in that case," he asked, "shouldn't young Aka- Midoriya be returned to his own family?"

The smile slipped from Akira's face and Naomasa shook his head.

"Unfortunately, Midoriya-kun doesn't seem to have any living relatives who can take him in," Akira replied. "His father has been missing for almost fourteen years now, and his mother is in bad shape. Apparently her health took a sharp decline when he ran away from home, and now she's a patient in this very hospital."

* * *

Mikumo was reading a book Akira had given him when the door opened. He knew who it was, even without looking up from the pages. He'd seen the familiar silhouette through the tiny window on the door, and recognized the scent. All Might had been outside his room talking with Akira and Naomasa for quite a while now, and although he couldn't hear exactly what he was being said, he knew they were talking about him.

At this point he knew All Might wasn't going to hurt him. The top hero had come in several times already, each time assuring Mikumo he didn't have to be afraid. Mikumo still instinctively tensed up each time All Might came to see him. He felt a little guilty for it; All Might always looked so sad when he did. Not wanting to see that expression on his former idol's face, he kept his eyes firmly locked on the pages in front of him, even though he was no longer actually reading them.

"It's nice to see you again, young Midoriya."

Without thinking, Mikumo looked up, his heartbeat coming to an abrupt halt as he realized what All Might had just said. All Might was smiling at him, more gently than he usually did.

"So that is your name."

Damn it. _Damn it_. He'd been so careful about how he answered Akira's questions. He was certain he hadn't given anything away, so how did they figure it out?

"M-my name's Akatani Mikumo," he said, pointedly not looking at All Might as he raised the book and buried his nose in it. "I-I only looked 'c-cause I was expecting you to say my name..."

It sounded weak, even to his own ears. There was no way All Might would buy it.

"Oh, is that right? Seems we had the wrong person."

...Was All Might really this gullible, or was he humoring him? Mikumo lowered his book, fixing All Might with an incredulous look.

"In any case, I'm here to give you some good news," All Might continued. "You'll be able to leave the hospital in just a few days."

And how was that good news? He'd just be sent to prison where he'd be either executed or left to rot. Mikumo's curled fingers dug into the book as he fought to keep them from trembling while his eyes grew hot. He wasn't going to cry, he could keep his tears from falling, but he felt them there all the same. He hoped they would kill him quickly. He hoped it wouldn't hurt-

A large hand came to rest on his shoulder. He flinched, before relaxing as he realized All Might was not ripping him out of the bed to drag him to jail.

"It's not what you think," All Might said, voice gentle. "I'm adopting you."

...What?

* * *

As it turned out, it wasn't an actual 'adoption.' Somehow or other, they'd figured out that Mikumo had been ordered to kill a bunch of those people - although they didn't seem to know who gave the orders, thankfully; Shigaraki was already furious with him, Mikumo didn't want to do more to piss him off - and declared that person ultimately responsible for those murders in particular.

Still, there were the criminals he'd killed for food. None of their crimes had warranted a death sentence, and if not for the fact that he needed to eat human flesh to survive he would have been tried as an adult for vigilantism. Instead, All Might had proposed an alternative solution; a form of house arrest. In All Might's house.

Well, his apartment, anyway. Apparently, he'd recently moved into a new, slightly larger one with this change in mind. Mikumo couldn't believe he was serious about this.

The courts declared Mikumo dangerous, but without malicious intent. They seemed satisfied with having him under the constant surveillance of a professional hero, and the fact that All Might was ranked number one - and had recently earned a teaching license, though Mikumo didn't know why that was significant - didn't hurt.

There was also the fact that he had discovered All Might's secret on his own. This way, the adults said, they could ensure he wouldn't tell it to anyone else, though Mikumo hadn't been planning to anyway. Since All Might didn't have to worry about hiding his identity from Mikumo, that would make the transition much easier.

Despite everything the adults said, Mikumo still didn't understand how this was supposed to work. What was he supposed to eat? He couldn't live a normal life as long as he needed to eat humans to survive. That's when Naomasa told him something amazing.

* * *

"There are other people like me!?"

Mikumo was staring down at the book in his hands in shock, before looking up to the detective with wide, disbelieving eyes. Naomasa nodded.

"Collectively, we've named all quirks that fall within this category as 'ghoul' quirks, even though they can take different forms for each person. The only thing people with this type of quirk really have in common is that they need to consume human flesh to survive. The word 'ghoul' comes from a creature from Arabic mythology that lurked around graveyards and ate human flesh.

"Early on when quirks were just beginning to appear in humans people with this type of quirk were typically hunted down and executed just for existing, but that isn't the case anymore. Of the five billion nine hundred fifty-three million six hundred thousand people on this planet with quirks, only about a hundred of them have the ghoul quirk. That's way, way, _way_ less than one percent. One hundred fifty-one thousand six hundred people die every day. An estimated twenty-thousand bodies per year are donated to science in this country alone. Nowadays, it's possible even for people with the ghoul quirk to live relatively normal lives."

Flipping open the book, Mikumo's eyes raced over the stories of the people who had the same type of quirk as him. The book didn't give names or faces, to protect privacy, but it did tell individual people's tales of how they lived their lives as ghouls.

One was a man living in Brazil who'd made a deal with his government after being arrested for killing people to eat. After serving thirteen years of his sentence he received parole, and was given death row prisoners so he wouldn't have to kill innocent people anymore.

Another was a woman living in America. She got by feeding from her consenting wife, who had a regenerating quirk and could simply grow back whatever body parts her wife ate.

In Russia there was a whole family of ghouls, two parents, and five children. All but one of the children had the ghoul quirk. According to Naomasa, this was exceptionally rare.

"It's strange, but the ghoul quirk doesn't seem to be passed along genetically like most quirks," Naomasa said. "It seems to just pop up wherever, regardless of what quirks the parents had, and even if two people with the quirk were to get have children they usually won't pass it along. That family in Russia seems to be the exception to the rule."

Mikumo couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was a name for what he was. There were people like him, and they weren't all criminals slinking in the shadows like Shigaraki and Kurogiri. There were a few examples in the book of people with the ghoul quirk becoming villains or simply killing and eating indiscriminately, but they seemed to be in the minority.

When Mikumo asked why there were so few people with the ghoul quirk, Naomasa was reluctant to answer. Apparently, most of them didn't survive to adulthood, for various reasons. Many of them didn't even survive in the womb. In many cases where they later discovered a miscarried fetus would have been born a ghoul, the cause of death was that the fetus had died of malnutrition. They simply couldn't survive on the nutrients their parents' bodies provided.

Mikumo remembered what his mother had told him about 'absorbing' his twin, and shuddered. If it weren't for the first Mikumo, he never would have been born.

* * *

Eventually, they let him get out of bed, though he still had to wear a tracking bracelet at all times, and he wasn't allowed to walk around without an escort, and he had to stay handcuffed when he wasn't being escorted. Most of the doctors and nurses seemed jumpy around him. Even drugged there were many who seemed to be afraid to touch him, if the trembling in their hands as they swapped out the needles in his arms was anything to go by. There were a few exceptions, however, and the longer he stayed the less he saw of the nervous ones and the more he saw of the few who treated him like any other patient.

Whatever the reason, Mikumo was glad to finally be allowed to stretch his legs, and thankful there was usually someone around willing to escort him. He wasn't allowed to leave yet, but they did let him go the the courtyard in the middle of the building so he could get some fresh air. It was a little odd going out when the sun was out. He hadn't even realized how drastically his sleeping schedule had shifted during his stay in the hospital until the nurse walked him out the automatic doors and tears sprang to his eyes as he took in the intense light. When he returned to his room a few hours later his skin was pink with a sunburn. Luckily it healed within minutes of coming back inside.

One day, the nurses asked if he would like to visit his mother.

He stared wide-eyed in shock, biting his lip as he considered how to answer.

"She's here?"

They nodded, not elaborating. Mikumo almost couldn't believe she'd come to see him. He wanted to think she would have forgotten about him by now. But he knew, while she had often cried because her child was 'cursed' with such an awful quirk, she had never once hated him. He could see it in the tears in her eyes when he asked if there was a way to get rid of a quirk, feel it in the tight hugs she gave him as though terrified someone would come to rip him out of her arms at any moment. She hated Izuku's quirk, but she'd never hated Izuku.

What would she think of Mikumo though? He was scared to find out.

After a long pause, though, he gave the nurse a slow, hesitant nod. She smiled before unlocking his handcuffs and putting the tracking bracelet on him.

At first, he didn't understand. Hadn't his mom come to the hospital to see him? As she led him down the hall, however, and came to stop in front of another patients room, dread pooled in a pit in Mikumo's stomach, and then realization hit.

His mother was a patient.

* * *

There was soft music playing when Mikumo stepped inside. The frail form lying int he lone hospital bed didn't so much as twitch, even when he came to sit next on the stool next to the bed. Her eyes were on the window beside her bed. Even so, Mikumo didn't try to get her attention. Feeling sick to his stomach, he took in exactly how frail she looked. Her paper-thin skin was taut over her skeleton, and her once glossy emerald hair had loss its sheen and become a dull, mossy color. What had happened to her? Had she fallen ill after he left? Was... was this all his fault?

No. Leaving was supposed to make things better for her, not worse! The stinging sensation in his eyes was back, and shame burned his face. This time, he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold the tears back.

"Midoriya-san."

The nurse's soft voice made Mikumo jump. Inko hummed softly but didn't otherwise respond.

"You have a visitor."

For several tense moments it didn't seem like she was going to respond. After a pregnant pause, however, she twitched. Slowly her head rolled on her pillow until she was facing Mikumo.

For a moment, he stared at her in horrified silence. Her eyes looked so dull and lifeless. As her eyes lingered on his face, however, a light began to shine in them. Her entire body seemed to vibrate while her now glowing eyes took in every detail of the boy sitting by her hospital bed.

"I...zuku?"

Fat teardrops welled in the corners of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks one after the other. Seeing her tears broke the dam behind Mikumo's eyes, and he finally let his own tears fall. With a choked sob, he suddenly shot forward and wrapped his mom in a hug which she was too weak to return.

"I'm sorry, mom, I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, I'm sorry..."

* * *

Once the Midoriyas had calmed down and their tears ran dry, the two of them talked for hours. Well, Mikumo talked. Inko, still weak, mostly listened, though she did ask the occasional question. He didn't tell her anything he thought would upset her. Who knew how she would react if she ever learned about Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Instead he mostly talked about the things the police and doctors told him, how he had met All Might who treated him like a normal kid, that there were other people like him and that his quirk was called 'ghoul.' At the mention of his quirk, fresh tears sprung to Inko's eyes.

Then she apologized for driving him away.

It was hard to fight back the tears a second time.

Mikumo tried to assure her that she didn't drive him away, that he'd decided to leave all on his own, but she even though she smiled and clasped his hand tightly in hers - as tightly as she could - he could see in her eyes that she didn't believe him.

"I saw Kacchan," he said, trying to change the subject. "He let me stay the night at his house. I'm pretty sure he didn't recognize me, but he acted really angry anyway. It was pretty weird."

"Didn't recognize you?" Inko said with a weak laugh, threading her fingers through Mikumo's long hair. "Who else could you be but my beautiful Izuku?"

He bit his lip before answering.

"I've been calling myself Akatani Mikumo for a while now."

Her weak smile slipped and she stared at Mikumo with questioning eyes.

"I-it's not because I wanted to forget you or anything like that," he insisted. "I just thought... it might be, uh, safer..."

Not just as he was avoiding police who might try to bring him home. If Shigaraki ever learned his real name, ever found out about his mother... He couldn't allow that to happen. Ever.

Somehow, Inko seemed to hone in on his train of thought.

"Izuku, are you in some kind of trouble?" When he didn't answer right away, she tried to force herself up, straining her weak body. "I-is someone after you?"

"N-no, it's okay!" he insisted. "I was just worried that if the police knew my name they'd force me to come home. B-but I'm back now, so..."

She stared at him, expression still pensive.

"You called yourself 'Mikumo.'"

He didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, I never should have told you."

"No, I... I'm glad you told me," he said. As much as it had hurt when he found out, he'd rather know the truth about himself, rather than be kept in the dark. "I'd rather hear it from you than learn about him any other way."

The sadness didn't disappear from her eyes but a small smile did tug at the corner of Inko's lips. She continued to stroke her son's hair, even brushing his bangs out from in front of his face so she could see his right eye. Although his hair had a duller, darker color to it these days his eyes were as vibrantly green as she remembered them being.

"I can control the change now," he said. "So it doesn't happen when I don't want it to. And, um, I can do other things to. Like summon my ukaku. That's, uh, it's like a big wing made of blood or something, and it makes me much, much faster-"

"I know, I saw." Her hand trailed down to the side of his face, to cup his cheek. "You used it to save Katsuki-chan, didn't you?"

Mikumo nodded.

"I think it just made him angry but... yeah, I guess. I kind of owed him 'cause he stopped this girl with telekinesis from attacking me, so..."

"I'm sure you would have stepped in anyway," Inko said as he trailed off. "That's the sort of kind person my Izuku is."

Mikumo blushed. He wasn't sure if she'd call him 'kind' if she knew about the things he had done.

"Still, I should be sure to thank Katsuki-chan nest time I see him," Inko continued. "Maybe next time the two of you can visit together."

Mikumo flinched.

"Kacchan comes to see you?"

"Every Sunday, along with his parents," Inko added. "You really should let them know you're alive."

"...They think I'm dead?"

Thinking about it, it made sense. He'd just disappeared with no warning, and there was all that blood, plus he never bothered to get his old shoes from the roof... oh.

Oh!

They thought he committed suicide!

Inko watched the emotions flash through Mikumo's eyes for a bit, seeing as the realization settled in.

"They've thought that for the past three years," Inko confirmed. "Poor Katsuki-chan took it rather hard. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you're back."

Katsuki seemed just fine when Mikumo saw him, if a little weird. He doubted the explosive blonde would really care one way or another if he- Oh, maybe he got investigated for instigated suicide? That could be a problem for someone like Katsuki who was aiming to become a pro hero. Mikumo hoped that it didn't cause him too much trouble.

"Um, mom, could you do me a favor?"

"Anything, honey."

"Could you... not say anything to Kacchan about me being back? I want to, um..." He swallowed nervously. He'd gotten better at lying, but it felt wrong lying to his mother. "I'd rather tell him myself."

Offering her son a warm smile, Inko nodded her head.

"I won't tell. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again."

Somehow, Mikumo doubted that.

* * *

It was his last day in the hospital. In just a few hours All Might - or rather, Yagi Toshinori - would come to pick him up and take him away from this place forever. Or, well, until the next time he got seriously injured. Hopefully that wouldn't happen for a long while.

Mikumo was beginning to realize that he still hadn't fully accepted that this was really happening. There was some part of him that was expecting this all to be some sort of trick, or a misunderstanding, or a really, really detailed dream. Even now as he gathered up all of his belongings - meaning all of the doodles and drawings he'd torn out of the notebook Akira had given him - and stuffed them into his backpack he was still half-expecting the police to come in at any moment to read him his rights and tell him he was going to jail after all.

So when the door opened and Naomasa stepped in his heart leaped into his throat. When Toshinori came in a second later, he relaxed a little, though his confusion must have been evident.

"Hey kiddo, ready to say goodbye to this place?" Naomasa said as he undid Mikumo's handcuffs and placed the tracking bracelet on his arm. Another condition of his 'adoption' was that he had to wear that bracelet all the time from now on. "The truth is, Toshinori here doesn't have a car, so I'll be giving you guys a ride today."

Mikumo found himself wondering what Naomasa's relationship with All Might was. He'd seen them come in together multiple times, sometimes when All Might was big and muscular and sometimes when All Might looked like... this.

"Are you ready?"

Toshinori looked as nervous as Mikumo felt. He looked like a skeleton today, plain clothes draping over his bony frame. He explained once that he wore clothes that were too big on him just in case he had to transform on the fly because of an unexpected incident. Mikumo wondered how his clothes didn't fall off him.

Nodding as he clutched his backpack to his chest for comfort, Mikumo swung his legs over the edge of the hospital bed and stood up. He was already changed out of the hospital gown and into one of the spare outfits kept in his backpack. The nurses had thrown away his blood-soaked clothes when he first arrived, which was kind of sad. He'd liked that All Might hoodie. Oh, wait, did the hero recognize it? That would be embarrassing.

"Nervous?" Toshinori asked, offering Mikumo a hand. He didn't try to touch Mikumo suddenly anymore, always meeting the boy halfway. "Don't worry, I'm a little nervous too, but everything will be fine. We managed to keep media attention off of the incident in the woods, and your quirk registry is only available to select individuals. You don't have to tell anybody about your quirk you don't want to."

That was huge relief to hear, although that wasn't the main thing Mikumo was nervous about. Still, he took the man's hand, relaxing as those twig-like fingers curled around his hand. It was so strange. Despite his appearance, Mikumo knew the strength Toshinori was capable of, and yet he was so gentle. Not at all like...

"Thank you, A-All Mi- er, Yagi-san."

Toshinori smiled at him. Even on his gaunt face, his kindness and warmth shined through. He started walking, leading Mikumo out the door and down the hall towards the exit with Naomasa following closely behind the pair.

"You don't have to call me that. In fact, if you'd prefer..."

Mikumo looked up at Toshinori expectantly, oblivious to the exasperated look on Naomasa's face as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You can call me 'Dad' from now on!"

Mikumo stared at Toshinori like he'd spontaneously grown a second head.

"...Uh, no, that's okay."

It would just be too weird. All Might was supposed to be his live-in jailer, not his... his dad. Although it would be kind of cool to be the adopted child of the number one pro hero... But what would his mother think? Yeah, no, he couldn't do it.

Though he did feel a little bad when Toshinori slumped in disappointment.

Naomasa placed a consoling hand on Toshinori's shoulder as tears trailed down the number one pro hero's cheeks.

"There there."

* * *

After he was released from the hospital, Katsuki thought he was done with all the bullshit. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any media attention on whatever it was that happened out in the woods. He still didn't fully understand who those men were or why they were after the shitty emo freak, and as much as he hated it he was starting to grow resigned to the fact that he probably never would know the whole truth. That wasn't part of his story, he'd just gotten wrapped up in someone else's and he hated it, so he tried to put it out of his mind and pretend it never happened.

Then, one week after the incident, even more suit-and-badge people showed up at his doorstep to talk to him again. Not an interview. They'd gotten all they needed from him at the hospital. No, this time they were here with orders.

"On Akatani Mikumo's behalf, we would like you to keep what you saw to yourself," the white-haired woman who seemed to be in charge said. She phrased it like a request, but her eyes said it was a demand.

Katsuki scowled at her, resisting the urge to launch a barrage of curses while his mom was glaring at him from over the woman's shoulder.

"What are you, his lawyer or something? Why are you bothering to keep something like that a secret?"

"I'm not a lawyer, no, but I am overseeing Akatani's case. He has been brought into police custody and will face repercussions for crimes he committed, but as far as the nature of his quirk is concerned that is his business alone and he still has certain rights. He was forced to reveal certain aspects of his quirk in front of you in order to save both of your lives. While I believe it's only fair that you respect his privacy, you will be compensated for your discretion."

Katsuki scoffed.

"Fuck off. I don't need any compensation. I wasn't planning on telling anyone anyway." It wasn't like anyone would believe him even if he did. "It's not any of my fucking business what that freak's quirk is."

Even if the quirk did make it so that freak had to eat humans. At least those bastards Kusaba and Nakajima had gotten what they deserved.

( _It's a dream, he knows it's a dream, but he can't wake up. He's pinned, hooked barbs pinning his arms and legs to the dirt while a weight settles on his chest. He lookes up with wide, horrified eyes as Mikumo glares down at him with burning red eyes swimming in a sea of pitch._ )

( _"Sorry, Kacchan," Mikumo says before leaning down, mouth parting. The last thing he's aware of is sharp, dagger-like teeth tearing into his eyes. He lurches awake with a strangled scream dying in his throat._ )

"Is that so?" Despite the harshness in Katsuki's tone, the woman seemed pleased. Offering him a small smile, she said, "It's nice to find such integrity in a young person. I've heard you're planning on applying to U.A.'s hero course, is that correct? I wish you luck."

That... wasn't the reaction he was expecting and for a moment Katsuki was too taken aback to figure out how he should respond. He didn't get a chance to figure it out either, because as soon as she said that the woman picked up her briefcase. After thanking Katsuki's parents for their hospitality, she and the men she'd brought with her left.

Integrity, huh? What a load of bull.

* * *

Although he was still struggling to catch up with his schoolwork, Katsuki couldn't focus on it at all that night. Thanks to that woman he couldn't help thinking about that kid, even though he told himself he'd just have to accept the fact he wasn't going to learn anything. With a frustrated sigh he threw this math book closed and opened up his laptop. Pulling up his home page, he typed in the search bar 'quirk,' 'cannibalism,' and 'black eyes.'

The first result had the word 'ghoul' in the title. Narrowing his eyes, Katsuki reread the title of the article before clicking on the link.

That night Katsuki ended up staying awake until two in the morning. He was going to suffer at school the next day, but at least now he had some answers.

* * *

Mado Akira sipped on her coffee as she reexamined the files in front of her. Though she'd told All Might as much as she thought he needed to know, there was something else bothering her that she had kept to herself due to a lack of solid information to go on.

Someone had been providing Midoriya Inko with human flesh to feed her child before he ran away from home. There was no way that woman was robbing graves or killing people herself. For eleven years, that child had gone unnoticed, registered officially as 'quirkless' despite the fact that he was consuming human flesh.

Actually, even before he was born there would have been a need for Midoriya Inko to acquire dead bodies. A single human fetus would not have been enough for a ghoul fetus to survive on for nine months. Someone provided Midoriya Inko with the type of food her child needed while she was pregnant with Izuku.

But despite the research she'd done and the information at her disposal, Akira couldn't find the name of the doctor who oversaw Inko's pregnancy, or delivered Izuku. The pediatrician who ran the clinic Izuku had gone to as a toddler seemed to have fallen off the grid as well, and his name and credentials were discovered to be false.

There was another reason it had been so easy to convince the courts to grant All Might's request of custody over Izuku. Someone had discovered Midoriya Inko was pregnant with a ghoul and ensured a healthy pregnancy. Whether or not that person was associated with the person who kidnapped Izuku, she couldn't say for sure, but her instincts told her yes.

And that person was likely to try to claim their investment sooner or later.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : Honestly, I think even someone as volatile as Katsuki would be affected by seeing some real-life cannibalism go down. I think anyone would be affected by that. Ah, I do love to torture him. Sorry this chapter's a little uneventful, but hey, we got some Dad Might at long last! The next chapter will include a ten month time skip, meaning that we'll finally be getting to the main story. Woo hoo!

When someone suggested to me that I include some of the Tokyo Ghoul characters in the story, my original intention was to just have them take the roles of certain side characters who would need names but vanish quickly after their parts were over. Mado Akira was originally going to simply be the child psychologist on the case, but she unexpectedly ended up having a larger part than I'd intended and I think you can expect to see her again in the future.

I hope my reasoning for why All Might's legally being allowed to 'adopt' Mikumo makes sense to you. I watch a lot of crime shows and did some additional research for this chapter, but I'm far from being an expert on things like this. Mostly I just tried to think about how laws might have changed and how they would stay the same in a world with superpowers.)

( **Edit** : Also, since Izuku/Mikumo won't be in class 1-A in this verse, someone else has to fill the twentieth slot. How would you guys feel about having a Tokyo Ghoul character fill that empty space? I'm not planning on having Kaneki, Touka, Hide, or Amon in the story, sorry, but anyone else is fair game. If I do decide to use a Tokyo Ghoul character, any preference for who it should be? Don't feel shy about making suggestions. If they're too old - which honestly, most of the characters are - I'll just age them down to high school age.)


	7. Changing, Spinning, Breaking

**TEN MONTHS LATER  
**

* * *

It was rare for Mikumo to wake up before Toshinori did, but in his excitement for this day his eyes had shot open even before the sun rose and couldn't fall back asleep. After tossing and turning in his bed for roughly an hour he gave up trying and threw the covers aside. If he was up anyway, he figured he should eat before his legal-guardian-slash-live-in-jailer woke up. As often as he could he tried to spare Toshinori the sight.

Until he'd moved in, it hadn't really hit Mikumo that All Might was, well, _rich_. Of course, being the number one pro hero also meant being the top earner, but he didn't really flaunt his wealth. The two-bedroom apartment the two of them now lived in was plenty spacious and afforded the both of them the privacy they needed to maintain their secrets without being overly extravagant. It wasn't like Toshinori hung expensive works of art on the walls or ate steak and lobster for every meal or anything like that. Still, the hardwood floors, state of the art kitchen, amazing view, and fact that it was located in a gated community was hard to ignore.

Mikumo kept his own bedroom relatively plain. Toshinori had bought him a glass bookcase filled not only with textbooks and encyclopedias to help him fill in the gaps in his education but also various novels, comic books, and hero information and trivia books he read and reread to his heart's content. There was a wooden desk, high-tech laptop, and a couple of potted plants by the window, but not much else in the way of decoration. His walk-in closet was filled with all sorts of new clothes Toshinori had bought him, though he mostly stuck to black and red out of habit. Mikumo clicked on the light inside his closet as he carefully selected the outfit he'd be wearing to U.A.

It was a bit silly. It wasn't like he'd be taking the entrance exam himself, he was just going to be in the same room as All Might as the pro hero judged the examinees. Still, he was going to be at the most prestigious academies devoted to heroics in the country. He didn't want to look sloppy. Not too sloppy, anyway. Thinking carefully, Mikumo selected an outfit he thought would be okay - a dark red button up shirt and black sweater as well as a pair of black slacks - and changed quickly before checking himself over in the full-length mirror on the back wall.

These days he didn't look quite so sickly, with the dark circles under his eyes practically nonexistent and his skin gaining a bit more of a healthy glow, though he still had to wear sunscreen if he was going to go outside for any length of time. He'd brushed his hair to make it as neat as possible, but there really wasn't much he could do about that rat's mess. Even now he refused to have it cut, and always made sure he wore it so it covered his right eye. Satisfied, he shut off the light and ran out to the kitchen to grab his own breakfast before getting started on Toshinori's. He was already awake, so he figured he may as well make himself useful.

* * *

Toshinori was used to early mornings, mainly due to the intense training regime he kept up even after receiving the debilitating injury that left him in his current atrophied state. On most mornings he would wake up first, perform his morning work out routine, eat, and then wake up Mikumo to begin the boy's lessons for the day.

That morning, however, when his alarm went off and his hand flew automatically to silence the buzzer he was keenly aware of the sound of water running and dishes clattering, and there was an absolutely mouth watering aroma wafting through the air.

By the time he'd dressed and come to the kitchen to see what was going on, Mikumo had already prepared a plate of bacon, an omelette with the works, and potato wedges. He'd even poured two mugs of coffee. Currently he was scrubbing the pots and pans in the sink.

( _It's not as tasty as the fresh meat he's grown accustomed to, but when it comes - mostly - guilt-free Mikumo can't bring himself to care. He devours his own meal of cold, raw human flesh as quickly as he can so he can get his blood-covered plate scrubbed clean and loaded into the dishwasher before Toshinori wakes up._ )

"Good morning, Yagi-san!" Mikumo beamed. After ten months the boy no longer flinched whenever he entered the room, much to Toshinori's delight. "Um, I made breakfast. I tried to follow the recipe as closely as possible, but, uh, I'm not sure about the taste since I can't... Sorry if it doesn't taste good."

Toshinori stared at Mikumo for several moments, feeling his heart swell. Then, his eyes grew wet. Struggling and failing to keep his tears from falling, Toshinori covered his mouth and turned his head away, shoulders trembling the slightest bit.

"A-are you okay!? Yagi-san!? What's wrong, does it smell bad? Is it no good? I-I-I'm so sorry, I'll throw it out-"

Mikumo's frantic apology came to a halt when Toshinori whirled to face him, waving his hands frantically.

"No no no, young Mikumo, nothing at all is wrong! I'm just..."

Mikumo stared up at Toshinori in confusion. The tears were flowing freely now.

"I'm just very happy, that's all."

* * *

Once breakfast had been eaten and the dishes rinsed and put in the dishwasher it was time to head to U.A. Of course, Toshinori couldn't transform right inside their gated community where there was a high chance of people running into them. The last thing they needed was for people to report seeing the number one pro hero hanging around their neighborhood. Toshinori was very careful about letting rumors spread and making sure his second form stayed a secret.

So together the two of them walked outside of their beautiful, safe neighborhood until they'd made it to the shopping district several blocks away. Hiding away in the secluded alley behind the storefronts Toshinori allowed his body to be swallowed up in white smoke.

When the smoke cleared, All Might was standing there, yellow suit stretched tight across his bulging muscles and bold grin stretched across his face as always. No matter how many times Mikumo saw the transformation it was still jarring.

Even more jarring was when All Might knelt down and signaled for Mikumo to climb on his back.

"Are you ready?" All Might asked as Mikumo's thin arms wrapped around his neck for support. Anyone else might have worried about being choked, but Mikumo was so light and the muscles in All Might's neck so thick that it wasn't an issue. Mikumo nodded. "All right then. Hold. On-"

All Might gathered power in his legs, preparing to take off.

"Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!"

Then he launched himself into the air, Mikumo dangling from his back as he sprinted towards U.A. along the rooftops.

* * *

U.A. Academy was a palace of modern architecture, towering over all of the other buildings in the area. Four massive towers with ceiling to floor glass windows sparkled in the early morning light, reflecting the pale blue sky and few wispy clouds it held. Raised walkways connected all four towers so that no matter what angle one viewed the school from it resembled a giant 'H.' Whether that was intentional or not, Mikumo couldn't say.

Mikumo never had much of an issue clinging to All Might's back as he alternated between sprinting and leaping so fast and far he may as well have been flying. Even with the cold February air rushing into his face and flushing his cheeks pink he kept his arms wrapped tightly around All Might's neck. Within minutes they'd arrived at the school, arriving at the gates along with several other teachers and staff long before the would-be students who were to take the entrance exam that day would arrive. As he slipped from All Might's back he looked around and realized he recognized a many of the faces around.

There was the healing heroine, Recovery Girl. And Present Mic. Mikumo listened to him every morning on the radio when he was Izuku. Present Mic was pretty cool. Then there was Power Loader, Midnight, Vlad King, Ectoplasm, and-

"All Might."

Mikumo jumped and All Might turned around at the cold voice addressing the number one hero. Mikumo didn't recognize the person in front of them, but he seemed familiar. He was a raggedy man, with shoulder-length black hair that fell over his eyes and a scruffy patch of fuzz coating his jaw. Like Mikumo he was wearing mostly black; black long-sleeved shirt, black baggy pants, and black combat boots. Something between a scarf and loose bandages was wrapped around his neck, draping over his shoulders and covering his neck and chin. Mikumo wondered if the bandages were functional or if it was a weird fashion thing.

"Ah!" All Might flashed the strange man a grin and a friendly wave. "Good morning, Aizawa-kun! Beautiful day, isn't it?"

Although Aizawa's expression didn't visibly change, Mikumo could have sworn he saw a flash of irritation in the man's half-lidded, bloodshot eyes.

"What is that?" Aizawa asked, voice perfectly monotone. He didn't need to clarify what he was referring to. Mikumo carefully maintained a neutral expression as he tried to make out Aizawa's.

"Oh, I haven't told you the good news yet, have I?" All Might said, laughing boisterously. Patting Mikumo on his head, he continued, "Aizawa Shota, I'd like to introduce you to my adopted son, Mid-"

As discretely as he could with Aizawa looking right at him, Mikumo swung his foot back to lightly strike All Might's shin.

"-kumo! Young Akatani Mikumo!"

"...You must be joking."

Mikumo couldn't tell if it was a criticism of All Might or himself, but he still couldn't help bristling slightly. Okay, so All Might was a bit more of a goof than he thought, but he was still doing just fine as a legal guardian - slash jailer - and he was an amazing hero! Still, he didn't say anything in All Might's defense. He wasn't entirely sure where he stood with this raggedy guy or if he... knew. All Might had said that there were some people on the teaching staff who would know about his situation. Was this guy one of them?

"I'm absolutely serious!" All Might insisted, ruffling Mikumo's hair. "His circumstances are a little unusual and I can't put him in a normal school for now, so you'll probably see him around from time to time."

Aizawa stared at All Might blankly. Then he turned his gaze down to Mikumo.

"My condolences."

Mikumo stared at him, trying to think of something to say.

"Oh my gosh, who is this cutie!?"

Before Mikumo could figure out how he was supposed to respond to Aizawa a fourth person inserted themselves in the conversation; the dominatrix-themed hero, Midnight. Apparently she had caught wind of All Might's and Aizawa's conversation and was now making her way over, eyes glistening.

"This is my adopted son, Akatani Mikumo," All Might answered when Mikumo stayed silent. Midnight beamed.

"He's adorable! But he looks a little young to be taking the entrance exa-" As she spoke, she reached for Mikumo as though to pat his head. He dodged her hand, expression still blank. "Oh?"

Clearing his throat, All Might explained, "It's nothing personal. He's... somewhat shy and doesn't like to be touched by people he doesn't know well."

Midnight pouted, but nodded in understanding.

"And no, he's not here to take the exam. A lot of stuff happened and he ended up missing about three years of school. For the time being I'm homeschooling him."

Aizawa and Midnight both stared at All Might incredulously.

"Now I _really_ feel sorry for that kid," Aizawa said. Mikumo couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "Did you even bother to check with Principal Nezu to see if it was okay for you to bring him with you today? You know he won't be allowed in the viewing room with you during the practical exam."

The look on All Might's face said that he hadn't. Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

What? He wasn't going to be allowed to watch the practical exam? That was disappointing. Mikumo wanted to watch the battles.

"You're such a killjoy, Eraser Head," Midnight said. "Lighten up a little. It's not gonna hurt anything if the kid sits in."

Eraser Head? Oh! That's who this raggedy guy was! He was a pretty cool underground hero famous for stealth attacks that took down criminals before they knew what was happening. His name came from the fact that he could use his quirk to erase others' quirks.

"You know why that isn't allowed," Aizawa said, frowning at Midnight. "It could give him an unfair advantage if he were ever to decide to apply to U.A. in the future."

"You don't have to worry about that."

The adults almost seemed to have forgotten that the person they were talking about was actually standing right in front of them. Just barely, Mikumo managed to resist the urge to flinch as Aizawa's eyes met his.

"I, um... I can't be a hero anyway, so th-there'd be no point in someone like me even applying."

Both Midnight and Aizawa stared at Mikumo blankly before turning sharp eyes on All Might, who was sweating profusely. The large man flinched as both sets of eyes fell on him.

"A _lot_ of stuff happened," All Might repeated.

"...Regardless," Aizawa said after a long pause, "You can't be in the viewing room during the practical exam. Just because you have no plans to apply to U.A. right now doesn't mean that won't change in the future, and the judges won't be able to focus with a child in the room creating a distraction."

Mikumo frowned, but didn't say anything. He knew better than to try to argue with these guys. He didn't really get any say over any of this.

"Ah, you won't have to worry about that," All Might assured him. "As you can see, young Mikumo's very quiet. He won't cause any trouble."

Aizawa openly glared at All Might.

"It's not about him causing trouble. It's about you being unprofessional. If you're going to be a teacher here you need to start acting like an actual role model and stop just doing whatever you feel like on a whim."

It was a little odd seeing All Might get reprimanded like this. Especially since, while All Might's smile didn't falter even the slightest, he still managed to look sheepish with his shoulders hunched and beads of sweat welling up on his face.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

A fifth voice added to their conversation, this time coming from... a bear? A mouse? Dog maybe? Mikumo couldn't tell. Some kind of white-furred animal, standing on two legs and wearing a vest and tie. The animal smiled amicably as it - he? she? they? - made their way over to the conversing heroes and Mikumo.

"Oh, it's nothing," Midnight said before anyone else had a chance to answer. "All Might brought this adorable little guy along and now Aizawa's giving him shit over it."

All Might was quick to cover Mikumo's ears.

"Please watch your language in front of my son!"

"I've heard worse..."

The animal studied Mikumo's face, expression never changing. For some reason Mikumo found that smile more unsettling than reassuring. When it finally spoke he couldn't resist tensing a little at the sound of its high-pitched voice.

"Oh, so this is the one who..."

Did this animal know? He looked up to All Might, who was nodding. To the animal, not to Mikumo.

"In that case, it shouldn't be a problem! My name is Nezu and I'm the principal of this fine school! I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance..."

It took a moment for Mikumo to register that Nezu was asking for his name.

"Ah, Akatani Mikumo."

"Well, Akatani-kun," Nezu said, clapping his paws together, "Aizawa-san is correct that it would be against the rules to let you into the judges' examination room during the practical portion of the exam. However, considering your unique circumstances, I think we can arrange something. Kayama-san, Aizawa-san, please don't trouble yourselves. I'll take it from here. All Might, would you and your child please follow me?"

Aizawa looked like he had something else to say, but he just nodded before turning and walking away. Midnight hung back just a bit longer to blow a kiss at Mikumo.

"Just let me know if you ever need anything, okay sweetie?" she said before running after Aizawa. Mikumo stared after the two of them blankly.

What a weird school.

* * *

Mikumo couldn't be in the judges' viewing room and couldn't be left unsupervised. Even with the tracking bracelet he was supposed to have a pro hero keeping an eye on him at all times, on top of which he was a guest in an extremely prestigious, and extremely secure private academy. Fortunately, even though no classes were being held that day so that the teachers and staff could focus all of their attention on judging the practical exam, there was still one person whose time wasn't yet completely monopolized.

"Honestly, All Might, I thought you knew better than this."

And that person was currently tearing into All Might. Poor guy couldn't catch a break.

This time the lecture came from a little old lady wearing a doctor's lab coat over a red dress, grey hair done up in a bun and held in place by a pin shaped like a medical syringe and resting her weight on a walking cane also shaped like a syringe. The 'youthful' heroine, Recovery Girl. Even though she didn't stand taller than one hundred fifteen centimeters, she managed to make All Might bow his head sheepishly in remorse like a a child receiving a scolding.

"Er, well..."

"You had plenty of notice," she continued. "You could have gotten someone to watch your child for you. At the very least you should have discussed it with the principal so that he could have arranged to have someone else take your place on the judgement panel."

Mikumo had to admit, she had a point. He'd been looking forward to getting to watch the examinees tackle the practice exam from the judges' viewing room, and finding out he wasn't going to be allowed to, well... It kind of sucked.

"I know, I know, I guess I just thought it wouldn't be an issue," All Might admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "Principal Nezu is aware of this arrangement and assured us that I'd be allowed to bring young Mikumo along with me to U.A. so I figured..."

"Yeah, well, look at where that got you."

Should he say something in All Might's defense? Mikumo kind of wanted to, but no words came to mind.

"Ah!" he froze as Recovery Girl suddenly turned her attention directly on him. "No need to look so nervous, dear. This isn't your fault. Have a seat. Relax a little. And you!" She rounded on All Might once more. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm going!" All Might allowed himself to be bullied out of the nurse's private viewing room by the tiny woman. Mikumo simply waved him goodbye. "Take care! Behave well for Recovery Girl! Don't do anything I wouldn't-"

He never got to finish as Recovery Girl swung the door shut in his face.

Poor All Might.

"Uh..."

"Sit down, sit down!" Recovery Girl brushed past him, smiling gently. Now that All Might was out of the room she was all sweetness and smiles, it seemed. "Sorry you had to see that. Would you like some coffee? You look like you could use something to settle your nerves."

He nodded. Coffee would be the perfect thing right now.

There was only one chair, but multiple medical beds in Recovery Girl's private viewing room. At the moment the chair was turned to face a massive LCD screen that took up most of the wall across from the cots. From what Mikumo understood the entire setup was designed so she could get to and from the field to retrieve injured students and offer them real treatment - not just first-aid facilitated by her quirk - quickly in case of emergencies.

"It's no trouble dear. Have a seat wherever you like. There's still some time before the practical exam begins, so make yourself comfortable."

In addition to the medical set up, there was a counter top against the far wall with a sink, rubber gloves, cotton swabs, the usual supplies one might find in a doctor's office... and a coffee maker. Mikumo supposed she must have had to stand watch in this room for long periods of time during practical classes and exams. At the moment Recovery Girl was sitting on a stool by that counter top so Mikumo figured he could take a seat in the swivel chair. The monitor was still blank. Mikumo wondered if Recovery Girl had control of when it came on or if it turned on automatically when the training zones were in use.

"Here you are." Mikumo hadn't noticed Recovery Girl walking over to him until she shoved a mug of warm coffee into his hands. "Decaf, of course. Normally I wouldn't offer it to a student, but Toshinori made me aware of your specific dietary restrictions."

So she did know. Mikumo didn't say anything, opting to take a sip of his coffee instead.

* * *

That was the longest forty minute train ride in Katsuki's life. As the only student from Orudera Middle School who would even be taking the practical exam, he didn't have any classmates or lackeys tagging behind him as he walked up to the massive gate emblazoned with the U.A. crest.

There were plenty of other chumps gathered in front of the gate, however. No one memorable. Katsuki didn't pay them too much attention as he sauntered up to the school's front entrance, puffs of mist rising from his mouth and nose with every exhale. His red eyes were narrowed into a sharp glare and mouth twisted into a scowl. Now, Katsuki wasn't a cheerful person on the best of days, he was perfectly aware of that, but he wasn't the type to get angry for no good reason either.

If one were to point out that what he defined as a 'good reason,' however, he'd probably snap at them and tell them to fuck off.

"Oh look," one of the extras said as he walked by, "Isn't that Bakugou? From the sludge guy incident?"

Great. He'd almost forgotten about that little gem. He tried to force himself to ignore them, even as he felt his cheek twitch.

"Whoa, you're right!" a second voice chirped. "Wasn't he so cool when he blew that thing away?"

A little of the heat faded. _That_ was more like it. Katsuki allowed a small smirk to tug at the corner of his lips as Extra Number Two stoked his pride.

"I dunno, I thought that Rabbit guy was even cooler," Extra Number One said. "Did you see the way he dodged those attacks like a freaking ninja?! Even though he's younger than us, he looked like a real pro, ri-"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP!? THAT'S OLD FUCKING NEWS ALREADY!"

Both students flinched at Katsuki's outburst before scurrying towards the school building. Pathetic.

"That wasn't very nice."

Katsuki turned around to throw a sharp glare at the person who'd said that. It turned out to be a short, petite girl near his age, with round, pink cheeks and brown hair cut in a bob. Unlike Katsuki, who had opted to just wear a scarf in addition to his normal school uniform, she was wearing a heavy coat over hers to protect her from the cold. She flinched as his fierce gaze on her, but didn't back down. In fact, after composing herself, she glared back with those round eyes of hers.

"You're not gonna make many friends here with an attitude like that," she continued, round cheeks puffing out as she reprimanded him.

"Yeah, well I'm not here to make friends," Katsuki snapped. "I'm here to become the number one hero, got that Round Face!?"

She gaped, like a fish out of water, mouthing the words 'round face' in shock. Satisfied that he'd put her in her place, Katsuki turned his back on the girl and continued towards the school building.

"You know..." Oh, great. She was talking again. "It's gonna be really hard for you to be a top hero with an attitude like that."

Katsuki rounded on her, ready to bark out another curse but she wasn't finished.

"I mean, top heroes have to be well-liked, not just strong, right? S-so, if you keep scaring people away, that's gonna be really hard for you."

Baring his teeth the way he did, and with his breath forming mist in the cold air, Katsuki almost looked like a dragon as he glared at her. The girl 'eeped' and averted her eyes.

"Er, well, that's just what I think, anyway. G-good luck on the exam."

And with that, she was off, not giving Katsuki a chance to tell her to fuck off.

"Fuck off!" he shouted at her retreating back anyway. 'Good luck.' Like he needed it. He hoped he ran into her during the practical exam so he'd get a chance to crush her.

* * *

The explanation process was long and tedious. Hundreds of prospective students all crammed into a hot, noisy assembly hall while Present Mic obnoxiously shouted orders at them. Katsuki didn't see why they couldn't have just explained the exercise on the training grounds.

Destroy the robots to earn points, destroy other examinees to get kicked out. One type of robot was worthless, so ignore that. They had ten minutes to rack up as many points as possible. Since the exam was all about destroying things, Katsuki knew he had it in the bag.

The battlefield was a miniature fake city, though the buildings certainly looked real enough. It afforded both the examinees and the robots plenty of places to hide and jump out at one another. Katsuki wondered if he could get away with blasting a building and dropping it on a bunch of robots at once. Probably not. If he pulled something like that he'd probably end up catching the other examinees in his attack and fail the exam automatically, and there was no way he was going to fail.

Finally, it was time to blow this thing out of the water. In a manner of speaking. All of the examinees had changed from their school uniforms into their gym clothes and were standing in front of their respective training fields. Katsuki tried to drown out the dull buzz of the extras making background noise, but it was hard when all of them were gabbing at once. How long was this going to go on for? Were the teachers trying to piss them off by making them wa-

"AAAAND START!"

There were a lot of shocked and startled voices as Present Mic's voice boomed out overhead and the doors to the battle zone suddenly swung open. Katsuki didn't freeze. He bolted forward, even as Present Mic was saying something about there 'not being a countdown in a real battle.' Like that wasn't already obvious.

A manic grin split his face in two while he held up his scarred hands, heat building in his palms. Three robots had already rushed forward to block his path.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Mikumo watched in awe as the examinees ran onto the battlefields. The screen was split up so it showed each of the seven battlefields at the same time, the cameras switching every few minutes to show a different portion of the fields with more attention focused where the heavy combat was.

There were so many amazing people who were taking the exam. A person who could shoot a laser from his stomach. Someone with the ability to reshape the earth. One person had drills in place of hands. There was a girl who could levitate things and send them crashing back down to the ground.

An explosion filled one of the screens and Mikumo's eyes flew to that battlefield as the smoke cleared.

And then, of course, there was him. Kacchan. Mikumo knew he would be applying to U.A. but until now it hadn't really hit him. Katsuki was almost guaranteed to pass, with his powerful quirk and amazing combat skills. That meant he'd be taking classes taught by All Might, and since Mikumo wasn't allowed to be far from his personal jailer most of the time...

Drawing his knees up to his chest, Mikumo continued to watch Katsuki destroy robot after robot, eyes wild and teeth bared like a feral animal.

He couldn't slip like he had during the fight with Nakajima and Kusaba. It was sheer luck that Katsuki hadn't noticed him saying 'Kacchan' back then. If he had... Mikumo shuddered. He didn't want to know how Katsuki would have responded.

"Is everything alright?"

Mikumo turned to find Recovery Girl watching him with warm, concerned eyes.

"Don't worry dear, none of the students are in any real danger," she assured him, mistaking the reason for his nervousness. "Each of the robots has a fail safe. If a student becomes unable to fight back for any reason or fails to defend themselves they'll shut down before doing any serious damage. And, of course, I'm here in case of serious accidents."

Nodding, Mikumo turned his eyes back to the screen. He'd just let her misunderstand why he was nervous. It was better than having to explain the situation.

* * *

That was another five robots reduced to smoking piles of scrap metal. At this point, Katsuki wasn't even keeping track anymore. No doubt he'd already scored more than enough points to pass, but he wasn't aiming to _just_ pass the exam. He was going to get the absolute highest score and crush all of these extras who thought they were anywhere near being in the same league as him.

With that goal in mind, he lunged forward, firing off an explosion that destroyed a one point robot that some girl with cables dangling from her ears had been setting their sights on. Katsuki smirked as he heard her frustrated shouts behind him while he raced forwards, looking for more fertile hunting grounds.

Suddenly, the ground shook. Katsuki screeched to a halt as in a shower of rubble three replica skyscrapers toppled over, a monstrous robotic arm swinging through the cloud of dust. Seconds later the rest of the robot came into view. It was the zero pointer, and while the other robots were small fry this thing was an absolute beast. It stood taller than all of the other robots, than most of the buildings in the false city and glared down at them with five glowing, soulless red eyes as it slowly rolled towards the frightened examinees.

Oh man, how impressive would it be if he took that thing down!? But, with it being worth zero points, it would be a waste of time. Katsuki still had to rack up his score. The other examinees apparently were thinking along the same lines as he was, most of them turning on their heels and sprinting or leaping or flying away as fast as they could.

Katsuki hung back just a moment longer. He didn't like running away from a fight, but there was nothing in it for him. He turned to leave-

"Ahh, owww..."

A pained cry reached Katsuki's ears. Without thinking, Katsuki turned towards the voice to find someone trapped under the rubble of one of the buildings the zero pointer destroyed.

Katsuki's eyes widened in shock.

Deku!?

He blinked. No, not Deku. That round faced girl from before.

The robot was drawing closer. The annoying girl couldn't move.

It was a school exam. The teachers wouldn't let anyone get hurt.

Accidents happened.

It wasn't worth any points.

...Oh fuck it. Nobody else had destroyed near as many robots as him anyway.

With a frustrated growl Katsuki launched himself towards Round Face.

* * *

Green eyes widening in shock, Mikumo watched as Katsuki raced towards the gigantic robot, eyes smoldering figuratively while his hands smoldered literally. Was Katsuki really going to try to take down that massive thing by himself? If anyone could, it was him. Actually, he was surprised that more people weren't trying to take it down. Wouldn't something that big be worth more points?

* * *

Uraraka Ochako covered her head to shield it from the smoke and debris as an explosion went off directly overhead. With her ears ringing, she almost didn't hear the angry voice screaming out at her.

"HEY ROUND FACE! QUIT LAYING AROUND LIKE A PIECE OF USELESS GARBAGE AND GET OUTTA THERE! YOU CAN MAKE SHIT FLOAT, CAN'T YOU!?"

...Huh?

Craning her head as much as she could, she saw the retreating back of the angry dragon-boy from out front. He was running- no, _flying_ towards the robot, his arms thrust behind him while he let off blast after blast in each of his palms. The robot had halted in its advance and was now swiping at the boy with its gigantic arm. One hit would send him flying like, well, a fly, but he managed to maneuver in the air like he was a fighter jet or something and avoid each of the robot's clumsy swings.

Okay, Ochako would admit as she did as the angry boy said and swung a free arm behind her to tap the rubble holding her down, he was pretty cool. Still kind of an asshole, but pretty cool all the same.

* * *

That... was so fucking manly.

Kirishima Eijiro watched in shock as some spiky haired dude launched himself at the zero-pointer, guns blazing. Literally. The guy was firing off blast after blast at the thing the moment he reached the roof tops to put himself on its level.

At first he didn't get why. Then he caught sight of some of the rubble in front of the zero pointer beginning to rise into the air and his attention was drawn to the girl scrambling out from underneath it. Oh, had Blasty McSplode thrown himself in there to save that girl? That was so hardcore!

Not wanting to be left out, Eijiro leaped down from his vantage point and rushed back towards the zero pointer.

"Hey, where are you going?" some bubble-headed kid shouted.

"To get in on the action!" Eijiro called over his shoulder.

If he didn't, if he ran away, he couldn't very well call himself a man could he?

* * *

 _Fucking shit!_

The other robots crumpled like tissue paper when he fired off his explosions, but against this thing his attacks weren't even making a dent. Although he wasn't intending on beating it in the two minutes he had left for the exam, it was getting ridiculously tempting to try to blow its head off.

As Katsuki was thinking that he risked a quick glance at the round-faced girl down below. Good, it looked like she'd gotten herself together and managed to free herself from the rubble. Now he could go back to destroying the small fries and racking up his total points-

Aw, hell no! What now!? Katsuki dodged another swipe from the robot, leaping to the next roof over, but even as he did he glared at the black-haired idiot who was running towards the giant robot.

"What the fu-"

He didn't finish before the robot, realizing it wasn't going to get Katsuki with any of its swings, opted for a more stationary target; the building Katsuki was standing on. For just a moment Katsuki felt a trickle of actual fear as he felt the ground beneath his feet shatter into broken chunks. The world ran together in a blur of color and motion but within moments he'd reoriented himself and blasted away the rubble immediately surrounding him.

"Fuck fuck fu _ck fuck FUCK!_ " Katsuki roared and he aimed his explosions behind him and flew away from the waterfall of rubble. "Hey, dumb ass, what the hell do you think you're doing!?"

Dumb ass with the - now that he was a little closer he could see - shark teeth beamed up at him. Round Face was standing right next to him staring at his stupid face with a dumbfounded expression.

"Dude, that is so fucking manly!"

"GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!"

The robot was on his ass again. Crap, he was too high. He'd practiced these maneuvers before, but never from this altitude before. He braced himself for the pain of a rough landing, knowing very well he was probably going to seriously fuck up his legs.

"Grab my hand!"

Suddenly Shark Tooth was right in front of him, hand outstretched. Katsuki reacted without thinking. He grabbed the offered hand and was pulled on top of a chunk of a collapsed building that was floating a good twenty meters off the ground. How the...?

The rubble plummeted. At the last second both Katsuki and Shark Tooth leaped off and landed beside Round Face, Katsuki on his feet and Shark Tooth in a crumpled heap a few meters away. It was still a rough landing, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The moment his feet hit the ground Katsuki was off, aiming to put as much distance between himself and the zero-pointer as possible.

"Wait, aren't we gonna fight it!?" Shark Tooth shouted behind him.

"Of course not you fucking idiot! Now _run!_ "

Spurred by Katsuki's angry snarl - and by the robot hot on their heels - Round Face and Shark Tooth took off. Katsuki could hear their frantic footsteps behind him, and the rumbling of the robot rolling after them, but as big as it was it was also stupidly slow. Now, he just had to find some more small-fries to destroy before-

An alarm sounded.

"THE TEST-" Present Mic's voice boomed out of nowhere. "-IS OVER!"

* * *

"And that's that," Recovery Girl said as Present Mic's voice signaled the end of the test. "What a show. Lots of good participants, and no major injuries this year!"

Mikumo was confused. Ever since he'd first noticed Katsuki's explosions in the video feed he'd kept his eyes on his former... whatever's actions during the exam. Running and trying to fight an opponent bigger than him did sound like something Katsuki would do, but not if he was just going to run away again right after. Besides, with the amount of time he'd had left - Mikumo counted about three minutes since the giant robot appeared - he would have been way better off destroying a lot of smaller robots than going after the big one.

The rock-skin guy and making-things-float girl had been pretty cool though. Mikumo hadn't even noticed the girl stuck under the rubble until she started making the things pinning her to the ground float in the air. It was a good thing Katsuki had distracted the robot by flinging himself at it. If the robot had kept going forward and hadn't noticed the girl-

Train of thought screeching to an abrupt halt, Mikumo thought back to that exact moment. It had almost seemed like Katsuki was talking to - or rather, shouting at - someone right before he flew into the air. The girl maybe? Had Katsuki thrown himself at that thing just to protect her? That didn't sound like the Katsuki he remembered at all.

( _"You shitty bastards wanna fight so goddamn bad?"_ )

( _Mikumo's head shoots up to look at the figure standing above him. Shock colors his features as the smoke clears and he realizes Katsuki is standing in front of him, a bloodthirsty expression on his face. It's not an unfamiliar situation... except for the fact that Katsuki's back is facing him this time_.)

( _"Then why don't you come and fight me!?"_ )

...Had Katsuki really changed so much?

Well, it had been almost four years since the last time they knew each other. Mikumo wasn't the same person he'd been four years ago either. He'd even gone so far as to change his name.

For just a second, Mikumo felt a bit guilty for how he'd treated Katsuki the last time they'd seen each other. Then he remembered how terrifying Katsuki had been when he chased him down in the woods and again when he'd blown up the bathroom door, and changed his mind. Even if Katsuki was two degrees nicer, he was still pretty terrifying.

Suddenly the monitor went dark and the lights flicked on. Mikumo blinked, eyes watering as the light stung them.

"Well, I should run to check on the young test takers." Recovery Girl took the empty mug out of Mikumo's hands. "All Might should be along any moment now to pick you up. Now, you just wait here and don't cause any trouble, alright?"

As she said that Recovery Girl set Mikumo's mug on the counter and made her way over to the door. Was that really okay? Mikumo thought he wasn't supposed to be left unsupervised.

As if reading his thoughts, Recovery Girl said, "It will be alright. With most of the injuries minor I'll only be gone a short while. If I'm not back before he returns, just let your guardian know when he comes to get you."

Mikumo nodded.

"Okay."

She stopped, turning to smile at him.

"Ah, so you speak after all!" she teased. Blinking, Mikumo realized that he hadn't spoken very much since he'd been left with Recovery Girl.

"Oh, uh, s-sorry..." She probably thought he was rude now.

"No reason to apologize," Recovery Girl assured him. "I'll look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully not as a patient."

Mikumo nodded, the corners of his lips quirking upwards slightly.

* * *

It took a week for the results to come in. Katsuki was taken by surprise one afternoon when he walked in the front door to find his mother shoving an envelope in his face.

"Hey, brat, guess what you got today!?"

"Hey, hag, get that outta my-"

Then his eyes locked on the words 'U.A. Academy' on the envelope and he stopped mid-sentence. Katsuki swiped the envelope out of his mother's hand and tore it open without hesitation, ignoring her stream of curses for calling her 'hag' again.

There was a letter, of course, but then there was also a metal disk small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Katsuki stared at the disk in confusion, not bothering to unfold the letter.

"The fuck is this!?" he and his mother asked in unison.

"What does it say?" Masaru called, poking his head out of the kitchen.

"Don't know yet, they sent some kinda weird machine," Mitsuki said as Katsuki turned it over in his hands and examined it. He discovered a button on the bottom and realized what it was; a hologram projector.

A grin split Katsuki's face. These things were expensive. U.A. wouldn't dish them out to every burnout who failed the exam. Well, he was pretty much guaranteed to pass from the very beginning, but the satisfaction of a complete and total victory still brought a smile to his face.

"Katsuki, you're scaring me," his father said, smiling nervously at the demonic expression on his son's face.

"Just play the damn thing," his mother said, equally disturbed by her son's frightening expression.

In a flash, all three of them were sitting on the living room couch, Katsuki still holding the hologram projector. He pressed the button on the underside and set it down on the coffee table. The lens on the top flashed, emitting a blue glow.

And then All Might was in front of them.

"I AM HERE!" the holographic projection cheerfully announced. "Am I on screen!? You're getting this, right!?"

This was from U.A. right? Why was he getting a projection of All Might?

"Congratulations, young Bakugou! I suppose you and I will be seeing a lot more of each other from now on, since it's been decided that I will work at U.A.!"

"What!?" Mitsuki and Masaru screeched, much to Katsuki's annoyance.

"Huh, what's that?" All Might was saying to someone off screen. "Hurry it up? But I was just- Wait, how many more of these do I have to do? Oh, I see, I'll get to the point then."

All Might cleared his throat and continued, facing the screen once more.

"Well young Bakugou, on the written exam your performance was more than satisfactory, however..." All Might indicated a screen above his right shoulder. As he did it flickered to life, displaying image after image of Katsuki destroying robots. A 'best plays' reel, nice! "In the practical exam your scores were beyond exemplary!"

"Don't let it go to your big head," Mitsuki teased, throwing an arm around her son's shoulder while Masaru gave him a more gentle pat on the back.

"Your methods for dealing with the villain robots was swift, brutal, and very effective! In terms of total points for destroying enemies you placed first out of all of the participants with sixty-eight villain points!"

Katsuki grinned. Of course he did. He could have gotten a few more if he hadn't turned around for that round-faced bitch, but even so he'd come out ahead! That's just how great he was!

"But wait, that's not all!"

Suddenly the clips being played on the screen beside All Might were different. No longer battle scenes, they showed Round Face pinned under rubble, the massive robot looming over her-

"What the hell is that thing!?" Masaru screeched while Mitsuki just whistled.

-and Katsuki, rushing the robot with explosions going off in his hands.

"Of course, U.A. is an academy dedicated to raising the noble spirits of future heroes! You didn't think you'd be judged _solely_ on combat ability did you!? Although you had nothing personally to gain from facing this particular enemy, you still rushed in without a thought to protect a girl in need, and for that reason we've decided to award you an additional THIRTY RESCUE POINTS!"

Did he just say... There was another scoring metric? One they hadn't mentioned in the orientation? Katsuki stared at the hologram in shock. Going back for that bitch had actually gotten him a higher score!? But wait, with the combined points that meant...

"Driving your total score up to a grand total of NINETY-EIGHT POINTS! A NEW U.A. RECORD!"

...Holy shit!

"So come on down young Bakugou! U.A. is now Your Hero Academia!"

* * *

There was a lot of celebrating in the Bakugou household that night. Masaru made Katsuki's favorite meal while Mitsuki called up Inko at the hospital to tell her the good news. Katsuki talked to her a little bit as well, awkwardly accepting her praise while not saying much himself.

When the excitement had died down a little, Katsuki decided to slip out of the house for a bit to go for a walk. Not that he wasn't excited himself, but the news All Might had delivered gave him something to think about. It was pretty dead at this time of night. With a few odd exceptions Katsuki didn't see anyone roaming the streets. Plenty of peace and quiet without running off to his old - destroyed - base.

Rescue Points. For a hero academy, it seemed so obvious, but Katsuki hadn't figured it out at all. It was only by sheer chance that he...

Katsuki scoffed, clenching his hand into a fist. His fingertips dug into the scar tissue on his palms and his grip lessened slightly.

He would have gotten the top spot anyway even without those extra points anyway, but breaking that record... He was well on the path towards his goal; the only student at his school to be accepted into U.A. - he knew for a fact that none of his fellow seniors had even applied - highest score on the entrance exam, setting a U.A. record to boot. It was all the makings of an excellent hero origin story.

' _Except for the part where you bullied that one quirkless kid until he committed suicide, but hey, what can you do? At least he's not around to screw up your perfect origin story, right?_ '

Four years ago, Katsuki knew he wouldn't have turned back to save that girl. Hell, he almost hadn't anyway. The only reason he had was because he knew he wouldn't lose anything from it. If there had been a greater benefit in leaving her, he would have done that without a thought, and he wouldn't have lost any sleep over it. If that had happened, he wouldn't have gotten the record-breaking score.

( _"You know..." Oh, great. Round Face is talking again. "It's gonna be really hard for you to be a top hero with an attitude like that."_ )

( _Katsuki rounds on her, ready to bark out another curse but she isn't finished._ )

( _"I mean, top heroes have to be well-liked, not just strong, right? S-so, if you keep scaring people away, that's gonna be really hard for you."_ )

He wasn't nice. Katsuki had always known that. He never had been, and never wanted to be. The only thing he wanted to be was the _best_. The smartest. The strongest. He was blessed with incredible talent and an amazing quirk he knew how to utilize. Becoming the number one hero was a path he was pretty much set on since he was four.

( _"Hey, did you hear? Some freshman went and killed himself!"_ )

And dying young was a path Deku had been set on since the same time.

( _"Oh, I heard about that! The quirkless kid, right?"_ )

( _"What happened?"_ )

( _"Well, apparently he got bullied a lot and..."_ )

( _"Bullies, eh? Must be tough. Any idea who it was?"_ )

( _"Nah, I think it was a little bit of everyone. Although, there is this one angry kid..."_ )

( _"Oh, the blonde kid? He's a freshman too, isn't he?"_ )

( _"They're gonna expel him now, right?"_ )

( _"Nah, teachers won't touch him. Kid's got pretty much the highest grades in the whole school, he understands material from grades way higher than his own, plus he has an amazing quirk..."_ )

( _"Yeah, no way the teachers will mess up his 'promising future.' They prolly won't say anything about it to the police either."_ )

( _"Must be nice. You can get away with anything if you're smart and talented..."_ )

A spark went off in Katsuki's hand. They weren't even angry that he'd bullied Deku into suicide. They were just jealous because Katsuki was in a position where he could get away with it.

Once upon a time, Deku had said he wanted to go to U.A. 'someday.' Katsuki had done his damnedest to beat that out of him. And now Katsuki was the only Orudera Middle School student accepted into U.A. just like he'd always wanted.

( _A pained cry reaches Katsuki's ears. Without thinking, Katsuki turns towards the voice to find someone trapped under the rubble of one of the buildings the zero pointer destroyed_.)

( _Katsuki's eyes widen in shock._ )

( _Deku!?_ )

He'd won a record breaking score by saving someone who probably wasn't even in any real danger on a whim. When it really mattered - when a person's life was really on the line - he had just stood by and watched Deku fall. No, worse than that, he was the reason Deku had jumped in the first place.

Deku had been a pebble. An insignificant speck in the corner of Katsuki's eye. When he was alive, anyway. Now that he was dead Deku was a crushing weight on Katsuki's back, bearing down on him every step of the way. He could have ignored Deku and everything would have worked out fine for him. He hadn't, and now there was always the knowledge looming over his head that if anyone who gave a damn found out about what he had done he could say goodbye to his budding hero career.

' _Of course that's what matters to you. Your_ career _. Not the fact that you, ya know,_ killed _someone._ '

He shouldn't have gone back for Round Face. Now his thoughts were all mixed up, making him doubt himself. Getting into U.A. wasn't supposed to make him feel like... this. He'd worked hard. He was strong, talented, had an amazing quirk. He deserved to get into U.A.

He deserved it... He'd worked hard...

' _I deserve this. I deserve it, I deserve it..._ '

Maybe he should head to the beach to blow up piles of trash. Mindless violence sounded like exactly what he needed right now.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : Hopefully I'm not being too heavy-handed with this, but, well, people tend to act differently when they're alone than they do when they're with other people. This was set up to be a more Katsuki-centric chapter, even if it didn't start out that way, so I figured it would be a good spot to pick his brain a little. Having him win those rescue points wasn't necessarily meant to make him look better. If anything, it was supposed to stir up his buried feelings of guilt that he keeps trying to suppress.

School is in session next chapter, and Izu- *ahem* Mikumo finally gets to meet class 1-A. You guys as excited as I am? Of course, that also means that the fated reunion with Shigaraki is drawing closer as well.

There's also the matter of class 1-A's twentieth student. I still haven't decided who it should be. I'm thinking about 'borrowing' a Tokyo Ghoul character to fill that empty space left by Izuku. Right now my favorite picks are Juuzo, Rize, or Uta. Ah, none of them will be ghouls in this adaption, however. I know, weird, but having the ghoul quirk is supposed to be an outrageously rare thing in this AU. A person in this world is more likely to not have a quirk at all than be born with the ghoul quirk. Sorry.)


	8. Class is in Session

There were eyes on them. With All Might being the number one pro hero, this was hardly an unusual occurrence for him. For Mikumo however, who had spent the better part of three years clinging to the shadows avoiding detection and the last year staying more or less confined to All Might's apartment, it was nerve wracking. Normally people didn't pay much attention to him. Their eyes went right over him. With him sticking so close to All Might's side, however, it was impossible for him to avoid getting noticed as well. He wished he could simply disappear into All Might's enormous shadow, but All Might insisted that they walk side by side.

Worse than the eyes were the whispers. He was the only child in the school not wearing a uniform, though Mikumo had tried to choose his outfit to be at least a little uniform-like. Although, since his outfit was black and red instead of U.A.'s grey and white and his tie was a sloppily tied stub, he still stuck out like a sore thumb. This only added fuel to the fire, giving the U.A. students more to whisper about.

While All Might dealt with the attention as he normally did, flashing a brilliant smile, Mikumo bowed his head and bunched up his shoulders, trying to make himself look as small as possible while his trembling fingers clenched the straps of his yellow backpack. He couldn't relax at all until they got to the staff room and the door slid shut behind them, shutting out all the eyes and whispers.

Almost immediately after the door closed Mikumo slumped against it, eyes slipping shut while he sucked in a deep breath.

He wasn't going to make it through the whole day, he realized suddenly.

"Mikumo-chan! You're here!"

Mikumo flinched as a very familiar voice reached his ears. Eyes shooting open, he found Midnight rushing towards him, arms outspread for a hug. He dodged as though she were coming at him with a knife and ran to All Might's side, using the large man as a buffer between himself and Midnight. Once again, Midnight was left pouting.

"Well that was rude," she huffed. "It's just one little hug."

"Young Mido- Mikumo doesn't like to be touched," All Might reminded her, turning slightly to give Mikumo a reassuring pat on the back, "except by people he knows well. Just give him a little time to get to know you."

Midnight crossed her arms and turned her head away.

"Midnight, leave the kid alone," a familiar monotonous voice scolded. "He already has to deal with this guy all day every day, he doesn't need you smothering him as well."

This time, Mikumo was actually kind of grateful for Aizawa's input. Even if he couldn't help bristling again at the offhand comment about All Might.

"That hurt my feelings," All Might said in English.

Seconds later a plume of white smoke engulfed his body and he returned to his normal state. Mikumo's eyes widened slightly, a flash of concern showing on his face, but within seconds he realized that no one seemed to be paying any attention to Toshinori. Most were just going about their normal duties, though a few were still whispering amongst themselves.

"So it's true, the number one hero's raising a kid..."

"Is that a good idea? Bringing him here?"

"Well, Principal Nezu okayed it, sooo..."

Aaaaand people were whispering about him again. Yay. Mikumo followed Toshinori to his desk, grabbing an unused rolling chair and dragging it behind him. The other teachers were trying to be polite, he could tell, but he still noticed a few glances in his direction out of the corner of his eye as he unzipped his backpack and started pulling out his textbooks and notebooks and pencil case. Figuring it would be best to just ignore them, Mikumo grabbed one of the workbooks Toshinori had given him and flipped open to the page he'd left off on.

"Is it okay for you to just change like that here?" he whispered as he started filling out answers.

"It's alright," Toshinori whispered back. "This form of mine is common knowledge among the pro teachers of U.A. It would take up too much energy to maintain my other form all day, so I let it drop when it's just us teachers around."

That made sense. Since, according to what Toshinori had told him when he first figured out the hero's secret, he could only maintain his powered up form for three hours a day it would be a waste to maintain it when he wasn't using that power for anything.

After that they fell into silence. Toshinori helped him out when he got stuck on problems usually, but this set was pretty easy. One of the books he'd already finished had a lot of questions similar to ease and Toshinori had already taught him a trick to solving these problems easily.

Little by little the teachers' curiosity over Toshinori's new tag-along faded and the whispers and glances came to a stop. At least they were more reasonable than the U.A. students. A bell rang and a few of them made their way out of the staff room, including Aizawa who was carrying a rolled-up sleeping bag under his arm, oddly enough. By now, Mikumo had gotten so absorbed in his studying that he hardly noticed them.

When he suddenly felt a presence looming over his shoulder, however, he tensed, head snapping up as his hidden eye transformed.

"Whoops, sorry for spooking you!" The man previously looming over Mikumo - he had leaped back the moment Mikumo startled - was a strange looking guy hiding his face behind a gas-mask and a cowboy hat. There was a metal plate on the cowboy hat with a stylized S. Sniper. "Just curious about what you were working on. Hey All Might, ain't these problems a little tough for a middle school kid?"

Toshinori didn't look up from the document he was filling out as he answered.

"Young Mikumo is bright for his age. Even though he missed three years of school he was very quick to catch up. On top of which, he's actually fifteen, so high-school material is actually appropriate for him."

Mikumo's eyes fell back to his workbook, not paying too much mind to Sniper's surprised squawk at the revelation about his age. He continued filling in answers, but even as he tried to focus on the numbers his mind was starting to wander.

The only reason he'd been so quick to catch up was because he didn't have a whole lot else to do _besides_ read and study, and unlike what Toshinori thought, he hadn't gone three whole years without any type of education. It was mostly on Sensei's orders, since Shigaraki wasn't all that great about maintaining any type of study routine. Kurogiri was often left to pick up the slack, though he didn't seem to mind too much. The man had loved tutoring Mikumo, even if the subjects could be a little... macabre.

It had been a while since Mikumo thought about those two. Living with All Might gave him a sense of security. It was why he didn't mind the tracking bracelet around his wrist, the curfew, the fact he wasn't allowed to go anywhere on his own...

The knowledge that, should he ever go berserk, All Might would go from being his jailer to being his executioner.

Because as long as he was with All Might, he could use the number one hero as a shield; a shield against Shigaraki's revenge, and against the mysterious Sensei. And All Might was safe from the artificial humans since Mikumo had destroyed the labs, so it wasn't like he was getting something for nothing. Really, this was the best possible outcome, better than he ever could have hoped for.

That did nothing to stop that irrational trickle of fear as he pictured Shigaraki looming over him as he did his homework.

He could practically feel Shigaraki's hands resting on his shoulders.

* * *

This was going to be a long fucking day.

Katsuki's class was full of annoying idiots. Prime example; some glasses-wearing asshole who was giving him grief for sitting comfortably.

"Don't put your legs up on the desks!" the glasses character was screeching, like he was a fucking banshee or something. "Don't you think that's disrespectful towards your classmates!?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't think so!" Katsuki spat. "So which middle school are you from anyway, you two-bit extra!?"

The extra looked offended at being called an extra. Messing with him was going to be fun.

"I private sch-" The extra stopped and cleared his throat. "I'm from Soumei Junior High School. My name is Iida Tenya."

Katsuki didn't care about his name. He latched onto the name of the extra's old school instead.

"Well aren't you an elite?" Katsuki sneered, baring his teeth. "Seems I've got a reason to crush you after all!"

As expected, the rich bitch looked _affronted_.

"What nerve! You want to crush me!? Are you sure you're aiming to become a hero!?"

And like that, the grin slipped from Katsuki's face. Without knowing it, Tenya had stepped on a land mine.

"Yeah I am! You got a problem with that!?" Katsuki roared as he leaped to his feet and got in Tenya's face.

Before Tenya could either retreat or retaliate, someone got between them.

"Hey hey now, let's cool it!" some spiky-headed weirdo with red hair said, flashing a toothy grin as he pushed the two of them apart. Katsuki glared at him.

"And who're you?"

"Aw, I'm hurt, don't you recognize me?" Shitty Hair asked. "Oh! It's 'cause I dyed my hair since the last time we saw each other! My name's Kirishima Eijiro. We saw each other in the entrance exam, remember?"

Oh yeah. Shark Mouth. Well, Katsuki was upgrading his nickname to Shitty Hair.

"Dude, you were so awesome back there!" Shitty Hair kept gabbing, oblivious to Katsuki's disinterest. "The way you ran back to save that girl, it was so manly! You inspired me to give it all I had too! Although I didn't end up doing much..."

No, he didn't do shit at all. Katsuki would have been fine without Shitty Hair there to distract him.

Tenya's eyes flicked back and forth between Eijiro and Katsuki in disbelief.

"Saved? This guy? Are you sure you're not mistaking him for someone else?"

" _Oh fuck you!_ "

None of them noticed a fourth person approaching until she spoke up.

"Oh, we're in the same class!" a bubbly voice - matching the owner's equally bubbly face - chirped. Katsuki turned to find Round Face standing right next to him, smiling. Why the fuck was she smiling at him? "Talk about luck! I wanted to thank you for what you did for me in the entrance exam, but you disappeared immediately after and I never got a chance!"

Yeah, because he didn't want to fucking talk to her. Couldn't she take a hint?

"I don't want your gratitude," Katsuki snapped. "Just fuck off."

"Don't be like that..." she pouted, cheeks puffing up.

"Wait," Tenya cut in, "what exactly happened in the entrance exam that you want to thank this delinquent for?"

He completely ignored Katsuki snapping at him for using the word 'delinquent,' instead focusing his attention on Ochako as she began to explain.

"Oh, well, during the exam I got into a tight spot when the zero-point trap showed up. I was stuck under part of a building and the robot almost rolled over me. Before it could, he appeared out of nowhere and distracted it long enough for me to get free."

Katsuki scoffed. As she was speaking he'd plopped back into his chair, kicking his feet up onto his desk. He did his best to tune them out, not wanting to think about that shitty entrance exam ever again.

"Oh, I see," Iida said, thinking over what Ochako had just told him before turning back to Katsuki and bowing politely. "Please forgive my rudeness. It seems I misjudged you!"

' _No he didn't_.'

"Damn right you did!"

"Anyway, thank you for rushing to my rescue!" Round Face said, turning back to Katsuki. "My name's Uraraka Ochako, by the way. What's yours?"

Katsuki fixed her with a glare out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to make fucking friendly with her.

"Name's Bakugou Katsuki. Nice to fuckin' meetcha."

Apparently, the girl had never heard of sarcasm. She beamed.

Suddenly - thankfully - the classroom door slid open and the room fell silent. Students scattered, scrambling to get into their seats before the teacher walked in. By the time everyone was seated, nobody had entered the room.

Seconds ticked by. Silence. Nervously, a few students threw glances at one another.

"Should... one of us go look for the teacher?" a feminine voice from somewhere behind Katsuki asked.

"I'll go!" Ochako offered, getting out of her seat. She walked to the open classroom door, and then froze before crossing the threshold.

Then she yelped and leaped back, to the confusion of the rest of the class.

"There's a weird thing here!" Ochako cried, pointing at something just outside the door. This prompted several U.A. students to their feet, including Katsuki.

When she said 'weird thing' he was expecting some kind of robot like from the entrance exam or maybe a teacher with a mutation quirk. The second one almost looked right.

It was a caterpillar. With a human face.

No, it was a raggedy-looking weirdo in a yellow sleeping bag.

Caterpillar Man stared at them with bloodshot eyes, before unzipping his bag slightly so he could slip his arm out and raise an ice cream pouch to his mouth and take a sip.

A 'weird thing' indeed.

"Took you long enough to respond," Caterpillar Man said, standing up without getting out of his stupid sleeping bag first. Instead he unzipped the bag after standing up, letting it slip off his shoulders and slump to the ground. He left it where it was before entering the classroom, brushing past the students gathered at the door. "Hmm, it took you twelve seconds to investigate. Life is short, kids. You're all lacking in common sense."

Katsuki's eye twitched. Who the fuck was this guy wait to fucking lecture them!?

Wait... This guy wasn't...

"I'm you're homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Pleasure meeting you."

The bored expression on his face said it wasn't a pleasure at all.

Katsuki stared at the raggedy man in disbelief.

This was going to be a _long_ fucking day.

* * *

As Katsuki had predicted, it had been a long fucking day.

Aizawa had thought it would be funny to give them a bullshit test with the threat of expelling the lowest-scoring student. Not that Katsuki would have cared if he had - it only made sense to weed out the hacks who couldn't cut it - but the fact that he had fucking lied about it just to manipulate them was annoying.

Then there was Round Face and Shitty Hair. For one reason or another, those two decided they were his buddies now, never mind the fact that he had told them to fuck off no less than thirty times that day.

The quirk apprehension test was a good chance for him to show off, but overall pretty boring. It would have been more interesting if the bubble-headed pervert had actually been expelled for getting the lowest score, but whatever.

Hopefully day number two would be more interesting.

* * *

The first half of day number two was so. Fucking. Boring.

Before noon, U.A. students had normal lessons for all required subjects. Today's was English, and even delivered by Present Mic today's lecture had Katsuki struggling to keep his eyes open. He already knew this stuff.

At noon everyone gathered in the cafeteria to eat gourmet food at reasonable prices prepared by the cooking hero, Lunch Rush. For some reason, Round Face and Shitty Hair invited themselves to sit at his table. Katsuki spent the entire hour trying to make them combust by glaring at them.

And then, finally, the afternoon portion. Their daily foundational heroic studies.

Finally, they were getting to the good stuff.

* * *

As nervous as he'd been the previous day, Mikumo was infinitely more so now. All Might would actually be teaching a class, and not wanting to continue foisting him off on Recovery Girl or have to divulge Mikumo's secret to yet another pro hero he had decided Mikumo would accompany him. Of course, he had asked Mikumo's permission first, and the young ghoul had said he was okay with it. Still, now that they were standing outside classroom 1-A, he was starting to wish he'd just asked to stay behind in the staff room.

A gentle pat on the head snapped him out of his daze.

"It will be alright, young Mikumo," All Might assured him. "This will be a good opportunity for you. You don't have to force yourself, but see if you can't use this chance to make some friends."

Friends. Mikumo frowned. He'd never really had those before. He doubted it would go as well as All Might seemed to think.

Without another moment's hesitation, All Might grabbed the door and threw it wide open.

"I AM," he heroically announced, to the obvious delight of the students inside, if the excited gasps and cheers Mikumo heard were any indication, "ENTERING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

...Would a normal person specify they were a normal person?

Even as All Might marched to the teacher's podium, Mikumo hung back. The moment the door had been thrown open he had caught a whiff of a familiar scent. His sense of smell wasn't so strong that he could track people over great distances or long after they had left an area. If he smelled someone, they were somewhere close by.

' _Welp, I'm dead_.'

"Foundational hero studies!" All Might was announcing, unaware of Mikumo's dilemma. "For this class, we'll be building up your-"

He cut himself off mid-sentence, noticing suddenly that Mikumo was still standing outside. The students started whispering to themselves in confusion as their teacher just stopped talking to stare at the door.

"Come on in now, no need to be shy," he assured Mikumo, waving him over. The whispering grew louder.

At this point, he couldn't really back down. Mikumo took a deep breath, steeling himself. Then he walked forward, trying to look more confident than he felt. He didn't think it was working.

There was a collective gasp from the classroom as he came to stand beside All Might, eyes on the floor. When he chanced a glance up he caught bewildered, furious red eyes and his gaze went back down to the ground again.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my son!"

Absolute silence. Then the room exploded in a chorus of 'whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?'s and 'no way!'s. Mikumo shrank back from the noise while All Might tried to reign them in.

"Now now, settle down everyone! I'm sure this comes as a surprise, but for various reasons I've decided to adopt this young man. Since he can't return to school for the time being, he'll be accompanying me during my time as your teacher, meaning you'll be seeing him around frequently. Now-" He turned his eyes down to Mikumo and gave him a gentle pat on the back. "-why don't you introduce yourself?"

* * *

No way.

No _fucking_ way.

Like the rest of the class, Katsuki had been reduced to stunned silence. Unlike them, he knew that brat. That Emo Fuck.

"M-my name is... A-Akatani Mikumo."

Emo Freak stuttered through his introduction like he wasn't a murderer who ate people. Like he wasn't a goddamn _ghoul_.

"I, um..." The kid's hands were held firmly at his sides, and it looked like he was barely resisting the urge to play with them. "I-I, uh, missed a l-lot of school, s-s-so All Might's homeschooling me for the time being. Uh..." His eyes flicked up for a second before returning to the floor. "I-it's..." Then he bowed deeply, politely, and blurted out, "It's very nice to meet you!"

A few students clapped politely as he straightened. Katsuki openly glared. Emo Fuck was avoiding looking at him, but Katsuki _knew_ that he knew he was there.

Around him, Katsuki could hear his classmates whispering. About how awesome this was. About how they could get information about the number one hero from the kid. About how cute he was. That last one had come mainly from the girls who didn't realize he was the same age as them.

They were all completely fooled by that kid's timid act, but Katsuki wasn't. He kept his eyes narrowed on Mikumo all throughout All Might's explanation of today's lesson. Even hearing the words 'trial' and 'battle' didn't bring a grin to his face like it normally would have.

He was going to get some fucking answers. Even if he had to beat them out of the kid.

* * *

He knew it was no good. He'd sounded totally pathetic during his introduction. Mikumo was only competent when it came to fighting and killing. At everything else, he was completely useless. It didn't help that Katsuki was glaring at him like he was going to tear his head off the entire time. He'd probably sounded like a complete idiot, and now he was going to be a laughingstock again.

"You don't need to be so hard on yourself."

Mikumo's hands clamped over his own mouth as he realized he'd been muttering to himself. He looked up to All Might, who was offering a gentler smile than usual. At the moment the two of them were standing in front of test ground beta, one of the arenas that had been used in the practical exam. They were alone, class 1-A having gone to change into their hero gear provided by a company affiliated with the school. While the others were busy, All Might took the opportunity to speak directly to Mikumo.

"Maybe it was a little much for me to put you on the spot like that. I'm sorry. But I really _do_ think it would be good for you to make some connections with people your own age."

Shoulders slumping, Mikumo lowered his hands from his mouth.

"I don't think so."

All Might stared at him.

"I'm not like other people. I mean... I _eat_ people. And even without people knowing that, I've never been able to make anyone actually like me, and if they were to find out..."

All Might was a genuinely good guy, through and through. He could never hate a kid, even one like him. And Naomasa and Akira were alright, but Mikumo could tell that they were always dissecting his words and actions for any sign that he was dangerous. Even among the doctors and nurses he'd met while he was in the hospital, the number of the ones who couldn't stand to be near him vastly outweighed the number of ones who treated him kindly.

And they were adults. Children, he knew, were a lot more honest about their feelings.

All Might's hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"A logical deception!"

Mikumo stared up at All Might, expression blank.

"Huh?"

"You just need to give them a chance to get to know the real you, young Mikumo," All Might clarified. "Once they come to see the quality of your character, they'll judge you based on that, not on some accident of birth."

Would they? When people thought he was quirkless they never cared what kind of person he was. It was like they instinctively knew there was something wrong with him. The only reason they were interested in him now was because they thought he was All Might's son.

"There's... something else," Mikumo added, eyes dropping back down to the ground. "Kaccha- Er, that's Katsuki-kun. He already knows. I kind of... ate someone... in front of him."

He didn't want to see the look on All Might's face. Didn't want to see the disgust that would show in his expression, even if only for a second.

"When those guys attacked us... I was weak from eating normal food. They were going to kill him, so when I saw my chance, I-"

"Young Mikumo."

His mouth snapped shut. Tremors wracked his body, but he couldn't stop them. That look on his face... Katsuki looked like he really wanted to kill him. Knowing Katsuki, he would probably make it painful.

"Do you have some history with young Bakugou?"

Oh, right. He'd never told All Might, had he?

"...I don't want to talk about it."

All Might's smile fell. It was the closest Mikumo had ever seen him come to frowning while he was in his hero form.

"Don't worry," All Might said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'll pull young Bakugou aside after class and discuss the situation with him. You don't have to worry about him exposing you without your consent."

If only that was all he had to worry about.

* * *

Even Katsuki had to admit, those support department background characters had done a great job on his hero costume. It looked even cooler than in the sketches he'd done. And his arm braces... At a first glance, they were purely ornamental. Resembling massive grenades, they added a more themed look to his costume. But Katsuki wasn't one to go for aesthetics over function.

Hopefully he would get a chance to show them off during today's lesson.

* * *

By the time the students of class 1-A had finished changing and stepped out into the light, Mikumo had composed himself. Mostly. He was still anxious about what would happen, about Katsuki, but he figured if Katsuki hadn't said anything yet he was probably going to hold out for a more direct confrontation.

And then he saw his guardian's students in their new costumes and for a moment his fear flew out the window.

"They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies," All Might said as they stepped through the gates and onto the battleground. "Be fully aware, from now on... you are heroes!"

They looked so cool. Just like real heroes.

All Might swelled with pride as his students arrived before trial ground beta, looking as confident as battle-hardened veterans. But of course, they were still children.

"I'm liking everyone's styles!" All Might said, nodding happily as he also studied their costumes. In English he added, "Very cool! Now, let's see what you're made of, you embryos! It's time for the trial of battle!"

And then the temporary peace was broken when Mikumo felt a heated glare burning holes in the side of his head. He pointedly avoided looking at Katsuki, choosing instead to study the other students' costumes. Most of them looked pretty flashy, but he was sure they had practical applications as well.

Although there was one girl whose costume left her next to naked. Wasn't she cold? And why was the drooling kid standing next to her wearing a diaper? Some had obvious indicators of their wearers quirks - like the black jacket with the white lightning bolts worn by one guy with gold hair - while others were more simple, like the bird-headed guy's plain black cloak and invisible girl's gloves and shoes and... nothing else. And Mikumo was worried about the girl with the ponytail being cold.

And then there was one boy whose costume made it look like half of his body was encased in ice.

As if sensing Mikumo's eyes on him, ice-guy suddenly shot a sharp glare in his direction. Mikumo immediately turned his attention elsewhere.

"Sensei! Regarding the performance grounds we'll be using," a loud, stern voice called out from inside a metal helmet worn by one guy whose costume looked like a splice between a motorcycle and a knight's suit of armor, "they're the same ones from the practical exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?"

That guy was pretty cool looking, Mikumo thought.

"No," All Might replied, holding up two fingers. "We're going to move ahead two steps! Most of the time, what civilians see are heroes fighting villains out in the open, but statistically the better part of the job is done indoors. Most acts of villainy are committed quietly indoors."

Mikumo knew that to be true. He thought back to the bar, how many shady deals he'd seen go down there.

"Imprisonment, house arrest, the black market... in this hero saturated society, why, any villain with intelligence is lurking in the shadows!"

And then there was Sensei, who didn't even show his face there, only communicating through that screen, and then usually transmitting audio only.

"For this class, you'll be split into villains and heroes and fight two-on-two indoor battles."

A girl with a frog costume asked, "Without basic training?"

"This _is_ basic training!" All Might replied. "However, the key this time is that your opponents aren't robots you can just beat up."

"How will wins and losses be determined?" the dark-haired girl with the ponytail asked.

"Can we beat them up anyway?" Katsuki asked. A couple of his classmates shot him nervous looks.

"Will the punishment be expulsion like with Aizawa-sensei?" a girl in a pink bodysuit asked.

"How shall we be split up?" the guy who was dressed like a knight asked.

"Doesn't this cape look killer on me?" a guy who... sparkled asked. Looking at him hurt Mikumo's eyes.

Mikumo threw a nervous glance at All Might out of the corner of his eye. Like he'd expected, the poor guy was being overwhelmed by questions. He was even shaking!

"Hnnnnn~! I can't hear you if you all speak at once!" All Might protested before reaching into his pockets - Mikumo hadn't realized his hero suit even had pockets - and withdrawing a small notebook. Everyone watched, a bit dumbfounded, as he thumbed through it until he reached a certain page and began reading. "Now listen here-"

A script?

"For this exercise, the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout that they intend to deploy," All Might read. "The heroes must stop them and their nefarious scheme before it's too late! If the heroes capture the villains or reach the nuclear weapon before time runs out, they win! If the villains manage to protect the core or capture the heroes, they win!"

From Mikumo's perspective, it sounded like something from an old-school hero comic. The type that were popular way back before quirks became a thing.

Setting his cheat sheet aside, All Might proceeded to produce a box with a slot on the top.

"Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!"

"They're being decided so haphazardly?" the motorcycle-knight guy protested.

"Ah, that's because..." All Might paused, reaching for his crib sheet once more. Everyone fixed him with a dry look as he flipped through it for the page he was looking for.

"Th-that's probably because..."

All Might stopped flipping pages as Mikumo spoke up. In fact, all eyes were on him now, causing him to flinch and making him wish he'd just kept his mouth shut.

"W-well, professional heroes often have to, um, m-make impromptu team ups... with heroes from other agencies... So th-that's probably why..."

Thankfully, the motorcycle-knight spoke up before he could dig himself deeper.

"I see! The discernment to look ahead..." Then he bowed, very stiffly, to All Might. "Please excuse my rudeness!"

"It's fine!" All Might assured him, silently reminding himself to thank Mikumo for speaking up later. "Anyway, let's get started!"

And with that, the drawing to select the teams began.

* * *

Katsuki didn't pay attention to most of the team ups. He didn't care about the others. The only time he paid attention was when his name was drawn. He didn't recognize the name that came up with his, but he _did_ recognize the bubbly voice that called out to him as everyone partnered up.

"Wow, it must be fate!" Round Face said as she bounced up to him. "I'm counting on you!"

"Yeah, no shit," Katsuki growled, causing her to pout. Everyone else watched in shock as Ochako proceeded to scold him for being so rude.

"That chick has no fear," the lightning-bolt guy said.

"Agreed," dude with the tail replied.

As everyone got into their teams, All Might proceeded to set up the next lottery which would determine who Katsuki would get to crush.

"And the first teams to fight will be..." He reached into the two boxes labelled 'hero' and 'villain.' "These guys!"

Teams D and A. Katsuki was on team D with Round Face. Who was team A?

A glance around answered that question immediately. Of the people around, only ones with any kind of reaction were the annoying glasses guy from the elite school and some brown-haired girl in a black cloak whose eyes were hidden by a metal visor that covered the upper half of her face.

The girl turned to meet his eyes - somehow, with hers covered - and offered him a smile.

He scowled at her in response.

"Team D will be the heroes," All Might continued without pause, "and Team A will be the villains. The scenario puts the villains in the building first. Then, after five minutes, the heroes will go in after them. Everyone else will be able to watch the battle through surveillance cameras set up throughout the building!"

"Yes, sir!" the rest of the class said before they turned and went off towards the monitor room. All Might turned towards Emo Freak.

"That means you as well," he said, causing Mikumo to look visibly distressed. "Don't worry, I'll join you shortly."

Emo Freak nodded. He turned to follow after the rest of the extras, but just for a moment Katsuki saw him throw a glance his way. There was a second where their eyes met, blazing red on frightened green, and then Mikumo was scurrying off. Like a timid little bunny.

Katsuki scoffed.

"Young Bakugou."

Katsuki snapped his head towards All Might.

"Come along now, the building we'll be using for this lesson is right over here!"

Huffing, Katsuki followed behind All Might, glaring at the pro hero's back. All Might _had_ to know about what Emo Freak was. He couldn't be the kid's adopted... dad - _fuck_ , that was a weird concept to wrap his head around - if he didn't. What the actual hell was going on?

Now wasn't the time to think about it, though. He had a match to win. Shoving all thoughts of emo brats and ghouls to the back of his mind, Katsuki started psyching himself up for the battle ahead.

* * *

Katsuki was left leaning against the railing next to Round Face as All Might let their opponents into the building. The waiting was annoying, but the battle to come would be fun... maybe. Would his opponents even put up a good fight? All Might had told them to go all out, and not to worry about getting hurt. Then he'd turned around and said he'd stop the fight if he thought it was getting out of hand, so obviously he didn't really mean that.

In one hand, Katsuki held a map All Might had given him of the building's layout. With his other hand he was tracing his fingertips over the scar on his palm. Even through the gloves he could feel the raised flesh. He figured nothing his opponents here could pull would hurt worse than what he'd already experienced.

"It's a lot of work to memorize the building's floor plan," Round Face said, snapping Katsuki out of his thoughts. "But All Might is just as nice in person as he is on TV! Unlike Aizawa-sensei, it looks like there's no punishment, so we can relax and- _You're not relaxed at all!_ "

With the way Katsuki was glaring at the paper in his hands, it was almost surprising it hadn't already burst into flames.

"You just planning to take it easy in there?" he growled, not bothering to look at her.

"Eh? No, but-"

"But nothing," he cut her off. "I'm aiming to be the number one hero, not some half-assed side character. So if you wanna relax, fine. Just stay outta my way while I win this thing!"

"H-hold on!" Round Face protested. "I'm not saying I'm not going to give it my all, I'm just saying we don't have to be afraid of what happens if we lose-"

"I. Don't. Lose," Katsuki hissed. With each word Round Face seemed to shrink back a little more. "You'd better remember that."

Round Face stared at him dumbly, probably too scared to even think of a response. Damn she was pathetic. Just like...

"Are you really going to say you've never lost at anything? Ever?"

Katsuki felt a vein on his forehead twitch at that.

"Because if you say you haven't, I'm going to call you a liar," Round Face continued.

Apparently, she had a death wish. Sparks went off in Katsuki's hand as his expression grew fiercer and fiercer.

"But you're right-" Katsuki's glare faltered slightly. "-I wanna win too, so I shouldn't be thinking about what'll happen if we lose! So, what's our strategy going in?"

"Hah!?"

"Well, we can't just run in blind, right? We need to plan ahead, or else we'll just run out of time looking for the weapon."

Just like that, she was changing the subject? Like it wasn't a big fucking deal!?

...Well, to her, it probably wasn't. Round Face didn't understand what it was to be the _best_. Still, she wasn't completely useless. Katsuki remembered how she had floated that huge piece of rubble during the entrance exam. She'd puked her guts up afterwards, but she'd accomplished her goal.

Maybe he could use her after all.

* * *

Mikumo was a little anxious about being in a room with All Might's students when All Might himself wasn't there. But then again, they were more enamored with the hero than they were with him, so they'd probably leave him alone while his guardian wasn't around, right?

He entered the room last, and the moment the door swung shut behind him every eye in the room was on him.

Maybe not.

Suddenly they were all around them. No wait, not all. A few were hanging back, even shooting sympathetic looks, but about half of the group had crowded around him and left him no means of escape.

"Dude, are you really All Might's kid!? Like, for real!?" the guy with the lightning jacket asked.

"Well, uh-"

"What's it like living with the number one pro!?" a pink girl in a Tye-dye bodysuit asked.

"It's-"

"Does being All Might's son make you popular with the girls!?" the kid with rubber balls on his head asked.

"Wha-?"

"Are you, like, his apprentice or something? Does he give you private hero lessons!?" a guy with spiky red hair like an oni asked.

"N-not really..."

It was getting too crowded. They were all clustered around him, firing off questions before he could even think of how to respond to the last one. It was too much. All of it. He couldn't deal with all these eyes, all these voices. Fighting wasn't an option and running away wasn't an option either. He needed it to stop. Just st _op, everything, turn off, stop existing-_

Suddenly a voice cut through the static.

* * *

It wasn't all that surprising that half of his classmates were fawning over All Might's kid. It wasn't too far off from most people's reactions when they discovered Shouto was Endeavor's son. Even if the pale boy wasn't All Might's child by blood, the fact that All Might acknowledged him as his own was enough to spark interest.

Shouto would admit, he was interested as well. But this was a circus. He couldn't let this continue.

"Hey, you all need to back off."

At the sound of his voice, pretty much everyone jumped, their mouths snapping shut.

"You're obviously upsetting him. Just give him some space."

They all looked stunned, like it honestly hadn't occurred to them that a shy kid wouldn't like being crowded by a bunch of highschoolers. Mina was the first to snap out of it.

"Oh, right." She turned back to Mikumo, who was standing frozen with his eyes locked blankly on the Shouto. "Sorry about that, Akatani," she said, clapping her hands together and bowing apologetically. "I got carried away."

Her apology was echoed by several other students and then they backed off, heading over to the monitors that were linked up to the surveillance cameras in the building where Tenya and Hinami were still setting up. Only Shouto hung back, watching Mikumo as the boy held himself and fought to stop the tremors wracking his body.

( _"Stand up." The voice is cold, cruel, despite the heat its bearer exudes. Behind a beard of flame eyes as cold as ice glare down at the child who just retched on the floor. "If you're downed by something like this, forget beating All Might! You won't even be able to take on small fry villains."_ )

( _Shouto can't answer. He coughs up the last contents of his stomach, tasting blood mixed with the bile. His eyes are wet with tears, but he's fighting to keep them from falling. It's a losing battle._ )

( _"Stop it, please!" a woman's voice calls out while an arm drapes itself protectively over the boy. "He's only five!"_ )

( _"Exactly! He's already five! Get out of my way!"_ )

( _The sound of flesh striking flesh reaches Shouto's ears and his eyes shoot open as his mother cries out in pain. The tears finally fall._ )

Did... Was All Might like Endeavor after all? Without thinking, Shouto reached out and placed a hand on Mikumo's shoulder.

He _should_ have expected the reaction he got. Mikumo jolted, tearing away as though Shouto's hand were an open flame, ironically. For a moment the two stared at one another, Shouto's expression neutral as always though for a moment a flicker of empathy crossed it while Mikumo simply didn't seem to know _how_ to react, green eye swimming with confusion.

What was under those curly bangs, Shouto wondered? A scar like his own? Heterochromia? Maybe it was a simple style choice.

"Sorry." Shouto turned away from the boy All Might had taken an interest in. "I'll keep those others in line. Just try to focus on breathing for now."

He was about to walk away when Mikumo's timid voice spoke up.

"Thank you."

...He sounded much calmer. That was good.

* * *

By the time All Might entered the room Mikumo had almost entirely returned to reality. In that time a few students had resumed trying to ask him questions, though now they were more restrained and actually gave him time to respond. He tried to answer the questions he could, though he thought most of his answers were probably boring compared to what they were likely imagining. Still, his voice came out more evenly, if still very quietly, and he was having an easier time meeting eyes. For short fragments of time, anyway.

When All Might entered the room to find Mikumo chatting quietly with Ojiro Mashirao, he nearly cried tears of joy.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Yaoyorozu Momo asked as she noticed All Might first, and noticed him covering his mouth with his hand.

"Quite alright! Quite All Might!"

Everyone groaned.

"Now, we should get this training exercise started!"

* * *

The earpieces Katsuki and Ochako were wearing cackled to life, and All Might's voice boomed in their ears.

"Trial of Indoor Battle... START!"

And like that, they were off. Katsuki and Ochako both agreed that just going in the front door was probably a bad idea, so, using Ochako's gravity-altering powers to make themselves lighter, they scaled side of the building to the second floor and climbed in through one of the windows.

There was no way the weapon would be on the first floor. That was something else they could agree on. That would just make things way too easy. If they assumed their opponents really were villains intending on deploying the weapon, one of the higher floors made more sense.

"Infiltration success," Ochako whispered. "There are a lot of blind spots, so let's be careful."

Katsuki grunted, but didn't answer. He was thinking about their opponents. Uninterested in the side characters, he hadn't paid much attention to them during the quirk apprehension test. He knew the rich bitch was fast only because he'd run the fifty-yard dash immediately before Katsuki had, but he had no idea what the girl's quirk was, meaning he had to rely on Round Face to tell him.

According to Round Face, the girl had some kind of plant bulb growing out of her spine. In class she'd hidden it with a clover-patterned shawl she wore over her uniform and in her heroic costume the cloak she wore also kept it out of sight. That didn't tell him much about what she could do, however.

The two of them were quiet as they made their way through the seemingly empty building. Their quirks didn't help much when it came to searching, though Ochako's quirk, at least, helped them stay stealthy by cancelling out the gravity on their clothing and making their steps that much quieter.

So far they hadn't heard a peep. Not after clearing the second floor, and not after clearing the third.

"It's kind of spooky, isn't it?" Ochako whispered. Katsuki hushed her.

It didn't look like their opponents were coming to meet them. They were probably trying to run down the clock, making team D waste time searching the building for the weapon before launching an ambush when they finally got close to where the weapon was. It was probably the only way these hacks knew they could win; they didn't stand a chance in hell of beating him in a fight, Katsuki thought smugly.

Suddenly a keening sound filled the air. Body reacting before his mind could catch up, Katsuki whirled around and fired off an explosion at the thing whistling towards them. Ochako cried out in surprise as the severed end of... _something_ thrashed on the ground in front of them. It was a strange thing looking like a cross between a human spine and a saw, with segmented spikes running along the edges. Each plate of 'bone' was strung together with what appeared to be vines, and they were still squirming.

Creepy.

"Bakugou-kun!"

Katsuki whirled around to see Ochako - body wrapped up in those weird spine-vines - being dragged away into the darkness.

"Fuck!" he lunged after her, only to be yanked back suddenly as a second spine wrapped around his leg.

In an instant, Team D had been separated.

* * *

Ochako fought against the tight grip holding her as she was yanked through the building, to no avail. It was just too strong.

And then, just like that, she was being let go. The spine flung her into an open door and she tumbled to the ground, dizzy and now nauseated from the wild ride. Shakily, she pulled herself to her feet-

"MUAHAHAHA!"

And found herself facing Tenya in an empty room.

"Pitiful hero! You fell for our insidious trap!" he cackled. "Your power lets you make things float, so with that in mind, we brought you to this perfectly clean room to face your imminent defeat!"

Now that he mentioned it, the room did look pretty spic and span.

"Now there'll be no little tricks you can try!" Tenya continued his villainous monologue. "You can't stop us, 'hero!' Muahahahahaha!"

He was really getting into the role. Ochako couldn't help it.

She bust out in giggles.

* * *

"FUCKING BITCH!"

Another explosion and then the segment of spines holding Katsuki went slack. The rest of it retreated, rounding a corner but Katsuki recovered immediately and was on it, smirking. If he just followed that thing back to its source, he'd find the bitch at the other end. He bolted after the spine, eyes open for another trap or sneak attack. If the bitch thought he was going to be easy to bait, she had another think coming.

He leaped over a hole in the floor the spines zipped over and rounded corners just as the spines vanished from sight. They never were far from sight. The bitch was definitely trying to lead him somewhere.

A feral grin split Katsuki's face as he fired an explosion, chipping away yet another piece of spine.

"Bakugou-kun," a certain bubbly voice cackled in his ear. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Save it, I'm busy dealing with Spiny Bitch," he spat.

"You found Fueguchi-kun!? Is she guarding the core!?"

"Haven't seen her yet, but I'm about to. Just get your ass up to the fifth floor as fast as you can."

The spines zipped up the stairs to the next level. Katsuki rocketed up the stairs after them.

* * *

Ochako stared down Tenya. He was going to be really tough to fight, especially with nothing she could use as a projectile. Even on the off chance she did manage to beat him in a fight, the time would probably run out by then, and she still didn't know exactly where the core was.

With that in mind, she spun on her heel and ran out the door at her back.

Tenya balked, apparently not having considered this possibility.

"Hey, get back here!" he shouted, revving up the engines as he gave chase.

If there was one thing Ochako was grateful for at that moment, it was that Tenya's quirk made it difficult to make sharp turns and there were plenty of those inside this building. She ducked around a corner just as he zipped past her and bolted towards where she thought - hoped - the stairs were.

* * *

Katsuki dodged a second whip-like spine as it whistled towards his face. Throwing a hand up he blasted that one too while the first continued to retreat towards its source.

Finally, he found the bitch.

"Ready to get your ass kicked!?" he snarled. Smoke was rising from his hands and he'd worked up a good sweat running after her. This was going to be quick.

Spiny Bitch didn't answer. Instead something behind her moved. Katsuki watched as her 'bulb' unfurled, revealing two large petals that spread out from her back like a pair of wings. From the base of the petals those two thorny tendrils regrew, the burnt off ends sharpening into spear-like points.

Then those points launched themselves at Katsuki.

* * *

"Foolish hero!" Tenya taunted as Ochako - barely - ducked around a corner in time to avoid him gain. "You can't keep dodging forever!"

He was right. She was running out of stamina, and he was still going strong. If only she could get the capture tape around him and take him out of the game, but he was so fast...

A thought flashed through her head. It was a pretty risky move, but at this rate if she didn't try something different she was going to get captured herself. She could hear the whirring of Tenya's engines right behind her and shot around another corner. This time, however, she didn't immediately bolt down the hall. Whirling on her heel, she did a one eighty while Tenya skidded past her.

There was a resounding _clang_ and pain shot down her arm as her open palm struck the front of his breastplate.

"WHAAAAA-!?"

Suddenly Tenya was whirling through the air, the engines in his legs more hindrance than help. Ochako took a moment to suck in deep lungfuls of air as he spun around weightlessly. Only a moment though, and before he could orient himself she shot towards him.

By the time the world had stopped spinning for him, Tenya found his arms and legs had been wrapped up in capture tape. And he was still floating. Stuck to the ceiling, actually, after Ochako let go of him.

"Th-th-thi-"

Ochako covered her ears.

"THIS CANNOT BE!"

"Hehe, sorry!" Ochako said, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Now I gotta go find the core. See ya later!"

And with that, she ran off, back towards the stairs she'd accidentally run past while fleeing from Tenya.

* * *

The tips of Hinami's spines dug into the ground where seconds before Katsuki had been standing. Her ears rang and light and smoke filled her vision as an explosion went off directly in front of her face. Even her visor didn't stop the tears that sprang to her eyes.

Katsuki, propelled high into the air by the first blast, aimed his opposite hand at her back.

And then fired without holding back.

Hinami gasped in pain. Her petals had automatically formed a shield at her back but while they protected her from the heat of the blast the force still knocked her off her feet. She hit the ground with a loud 'oomph,' the wind knocked out of her.

"Bakugou-kun, I captured Iida-kun!" Ochako suddenly chirped in his ear. This time, Katsuki found her voice marginally less irritating.

"Hear that?" Katsuki gloated. "You're one man down. Might as well give up now."

Spiny Bitch had already pushed herself up to her hands and knees and although he couldn't actually see her eyes he got the sense she was glaring at him.

"I'm not scared of you!" she snapped, and then her spines were shooting at Katsuki again.

A blast knocked the spines away from them. Katsuki could laugh at how easy this was.

But then Spiny Bitch shot through the smoke, throwing herself directly at Katsuki. Not even blinking, Katsuki slid out of the way of her clumsy punch and then cracked his large bracer over the side of her head, causing her visor to fly off.

Blood - just a little bit - sprayed from her forehead.

She flew into the opposite wall and bounced off it, slumping to the ground. Dazed, her spines began to flail erratically. Katsuki leaped out of their reach, but the tip of one grazed his chest, slicing through his costume and skin and drawing blood.

"You little-!"

He fired another series of explosions and she wrapped her petals around her to form a shield. She'd recovered, but kept up her spines' erratic movements to keep him from being able to dodge easily. He couldn't get in close, but she was doing lots of damage to the area around her too, scoring out chunks of the walls, floor, and ceiling with each strike of her spines.

Smirking, Katsuki leveled his hands on the floor.

The PA cackled and he was vaguely aware All Might's voice warning him not to take it too far.

"Bye bitch!" he snarled before blowing the ground out from under her feet.

* * *

Ochako froze as the sound of something collapsing echoed through the building. That sounded really bad. Raising her hand to her earpiece, she said, "Bakugou-kun, are you alright? I heard something loud."

"I'm fine," his voice crackled over the intercom. He sounded out of breath. "Just go get the damn weapon before-"

His voice suddenly cut out, leaving only static.

"Bakugou-kun? Bakugou-kun!?"

* * *

He'd turned his back on the gaping hole in the floor. Last mistake he was going to make. A spine shot out of the hole and grabbed Katsuki's ankle, hurtling him through the air. His hands sparked as he prepared to blow it away but then his whole body plowed through the ceiling. Sunlight hit Katsuki's eyes for just a second before he was ripped back through the hole and slammed down on the ground right next to the hole.

She wasn't giving him any time to respond. The spines kept throwing him around like a rag doll, against the walls and ceiling and floor. But he wasn't out. Clapping his hands together Katsuki let off a massive explosion that swallowed up the entire area.

"DIE!"

Everything was swallowed up in heat and smoke, even Bakugou. The next thing he knew, he was falling, rubble raining down around him. There was a rushing sound in his ears that might have been the building collapsing or might have been his own blood.

He blinked. He was free. Everything stopped moving. When had he hit the ground? Slowly Katsuki pulled himself to his feet, breath coming out in harsh pants as sweat rolled down the side of his face. The area around him was a wreck. What he could see of it, anyway. The edges of his vision were beginning to go dark, but he couldn't let himself pass out yet. Where was-

A whistling sound hit Katsuki's ears.

He ducked, whirling around just as that girl's spine whizzed over his shoulder and fired a blast at her point blank.

She screamed, flying back and landing in a heap on a pile of rubble. Her head lolled to the side as she fell unconscious.

Katsuki gasped for breath. He watched Spiny Bitch lay there for a while, just in case she was about to jump up and attack again, but seconds ticked by and she didn't move. Head swimming, Katsuki took a few shaky steps towards her, reaching for the capture tape on his belt.

Suddenly the PA chimed overhead, and All Might's voice rang out.

"THE EXERCISE IS OVER!" All Might announced. Dammit. He'd hesitated too long. Did time run out? Did Round Face find the weapon? "THE WINNING TEAM IIIIIIS..."

Katsuki slumped to his knees, chest heaving. Suddenly he was aware of the taste of blood in his mouth.

Then the world lurched to the side. The last thing he was aware of was the cold floor against his overheated face, and All Might's voice echoing in his ear. He couldn't make out what his teacher was saying.

* * *

( **Author's note** : Welcome to school, Mikumo. No confrontation yet. Don't worry, that'll come early in the next chapter. So, I made up my mind and the person taking Izuku's place in class 1-A will be Fueguchi Hinami. It made the most sense to me to use her. She already started out close in age to the BNHA characters, has a power I could easily adapt - I was inspired to make it a 'plant' because of the wiki's description section likening her wings to flower petals - and I just really like her. She's only there to fill an empty space I didn't want to create an OC for so, sorry to say, so there won't be a whole lot of focus on her. At least, not any more than any of the other students in class 1-A.

I figured Katsuki wouldn't be as wild in this battle since it wasn't against Izuku, but that doesn't mean he'd pull his punches either. I was going to end it sooner, have either the time run out or Uraraka find the weapon, but then I was worried the battle wasn't intense enough for Katsuki and ended up expanding it. I think it's a good thing I did, though I feel like I could have done more. Action scenes are still a little tricky for me.

Speaking of scenes I like, I thought it would make sense Todoroki show interest in Izuku/Mikumo even sooner, considering his relationship with All Might. On top of which, I think out of everyone else in class 1-A I think he's in the best position to be able to understand Mikumo, and vice versa. It's gonna be a lot of fun watching the relationship between those two unfold.

Thank you guys for sticking with me so far. I appreciate all of your kind reviews. Take care!)


	9. Little Rabbit

Mikumo watched through the monitor as the girl with the gravity quirk slumped to the ground, leaning against the weapon prop as she caught her breath. That had been so close. A few seconds longer and her team would have lost.

He was glad she'd won. The way she'd used the motorcycle-knight's speed against him had been pretty clever, and she gave off the impression of being a nice person.

But then, he also felt sorry for the girl on the other team, the one who'd fought Kacchan. The two of them had gotten really vicious in their battle. After it was over All Might had summoned small robots bearing medical stretchers to bring Kacchan and the girl with the skeleton-flower quirk to Recovery Girl. Mikumo wondered if Kacchan had heard the results of the battle before he passed out at the end.

"Wow, I can't believe Bakugou didn't hold back against a fragile girl," the red oni said. Mikumo shot him a bewildered look.

Fragile? It wasn't like Katsuki had gotten out of it unscathed.

"Villains won't hold back because of a thing like gender," All Might advised. "And you shouldn't either. Anyway, the next teams should get ready for combat! May I have-"

Mikumo watched the screen as the robots lifted Katsuki's limp body onto the stretcher. All Might had promised to talk to him after classes ended for the day. With Recovery Girl's quirk, Katsuki would be healed enough to to hear what All Might had to say.

Would it mean anything though?

* * *

Katsuki was getting really fucking sick of waking up in hospital beds.

At least this time he wasn't drugged to hell and back. Mainly thanks Recovery's Girl quirk healing him before he could wake up to feel the pain from his injuries. A quick glance at the clock told him that he had slept through the end of class and he'd missed the rest of the fights.

Meaning he'd also missed his chance to confront Emo Freak. Dammit. Katsuki groaned as he pushed himself up into a semi-sitting position. Although most of his injuries had been healed, his head was still throbbing painfully from when that Spiny Bitch had put him through the wall.

"Oh, you're finally awake." Oh yeah. If he was in the nurse's office that meant Recovery Girl was there. "That's good. I'll let your teacher know you're awake."

...What?

"What?"

Instead of answering, Recovery Girl shuffled over to the door and threw it open, revealing All Might's massive form looming in the tiny - by comparison - door frame.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"You held your own rather well in today's training exercise," All Might said as he closed the door behind him. Recovery Girl had slipped out of her own office, so it was just All Might and Katsuki in there now. Good. "Though there were several things you could have improved on. First and foremost; your recklessness. Although it was only a training exercise, the whole idea was for you to act as though the situation - and the weapon - were real and if you had destroyed the building-"

"What the _actual_ fuck!?"

"Well, blasting away a large part of the floor like that-"

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it!"

And like that, all pretense was gone. All Might's smile fell, and he let out a long sigh.

"Young Mikumo was born with an excessively rare quirk called 'ghoul.' It has some... unfortunate side effe-"

"I know what his quirk's _called_ ," Katsuki growled. "I know how to do research. What I wanna know is what the fuck he's doing here and why you're parading him around like he's your kid!?"

Again, All Might sighed, this time pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked more tired than Katsuki felt after Recovery Girl's quirk drained his stamina.

"The last time we spoke, I told you about my suspicions that young Mikumo was involved with a serial killer," he said, speaking slowly, evenly. "After the two of you were brought to the hospital-"

Wait, the two of them went to the same hospital at the same time? Emo Freak was there while Katsuki was there!?

"-my friends with the police were able to determine that young Mikumo _was_ the serial killer who had been targeting criminals during that year."

Katsuki had guessed as much. It was still chilling to hear. He'd brought that emo freak into his house thinking he was just some homeless kid. Fuck, he could have gotten himself and his parents _killed_.

' _Except_ ,' the Voice whispered in the back of his mind, ' _that you're so utterly terrifying that even a monster who eats humans was frozen in fear_.'

"But," All Might continued, interrupting Katsuki's train of thought, "they also determined that at the time he was being held by someone who... attempted to groom him into a villain."

"...Huh?"

"You should know, the reason I'm telling you this much is because young Mikumo himself said he thought you deserved to know, since you became involved in the situation in Tatooin. The truth is, he's just a child who's afraid of his own quirk," All Might continued. "It led him to run away from home and he was taken advantage of as a result."

( _"Katsuki, you know Mikumo-chan was probably abused, right?"_ )

"For the time being, police and special investigators are still looking for the person behind it, but there aren't many leads, and young Mikumo is reluctant to speak about the three years he spent with his kidnapper. Agent Mado-san believes he may have blocked out some of the more traumatic memories from that time."

With an angry snarl, Katsuki leaped to his feet.

"I don't care about any of that!" he spat, because he didn't. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to think about the way the kid flinched or froze up whenever Katsuki looked at him or the way he'd trembled pitifully when Katsuki held him down or how he'd hid behind Katsuki's mother and looked at Katsuki like... like...

' _Like you're more of a monster than he is?_ '

"I just want to know what he's doing here! Why the fuck you thought it would be a good idea to bring something like that to a freaking school!?"

"Well," All Might started, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, "he hasn't been in school for about four years now. Just throwing him back in and expecting him to catch up would be unrealistic, which is why I'm homeschooling him until next year when he'll be allowed to apply to high school if he chooses. And I can't just leave him at home alone while I teach here, so I discussed it with the principal and he decided it would be fine for young Mikumo to accompany me to my classes."

All Might said that so matter-of-factly, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with it whatsoever. Katsuki stared at him incredulously.

" _He eats people!_ "

"Yes, because his body won't let him eat anything else," All Might said. "Rest assured, these days his meals are donated from a cooperating hospital, from those who have already died. Young Mikumo isn't a threat to anyone in this school."

( _Katsuki watches in shock and horror as Mikumo's teeth sink into Kusaba's throat, tearing the flesh and causing blood to spurt everywhere. Katsuki's stomach twists at the sight; Kusaba's head is almost completely detached from the torn, bloody stump of his neck. Then Mikumo looks up, face dripping with blood, and a chill runs down Katsuki's spine._ )

"Bull. Shit."

"Young Bakugou-"

"I watched him tear a man's throat out with his teeth and you're going to stand there and tell me he's harmless!?"

"If he hadn't killed those men, you both might be dead right now."

Katsuki ground his teeth together, but didn't say anything.

"What's more," All Might continued when it didn't look like Katsuki was going to respond, "he applied first aid that may very well have saved your life. You'd lost a lot of blood due to your injuries and if he hadn't patched your wound before attempting to flee, he might have managed to escape, but you certainly would have bled out before the EMTs could reach you."

 _("Are you okay, Kacchan?"_ )

( _Round, earnest green eyes look down at Katsuki where he kneels in the creek. Their owner has always been soft, weak, but there's something shining in there that doesn't match their owner's meek demeanor._ )

( _"It'd be bad if you hit your head."_ )

"I believe that makes it twice he's saved your life, if I'm not mistaken."

( _"It's okay," Mikumo says, voice muffled by the mask_.)

( _His eye looks so unnatural; the pupil is crimson, veins crisscrossing over a sea of inky black. Even so, there's something shining in there that doesn't match its owner's cold demeanor._ )

( _"You aren't going to die."_ )

"So what are you saying, huh!?" Katsuki snarled, body trembling as his blood boiled beneath his skin. "That I fucking owe him or some shit!?"

"Not at all." All Might placed his hands on Katsuki's shoulders. The trembling came to a stop, but his hands were still clenched so tightly he could feel the sting where his fingernails broke skin. "All I'm trying to say is that no one is evil because of whatever quirk they happen to be born with, and in those moments young Mikumo chose to use his to protect. That says more about him than the fact that he just happened to be born a ghoul, don't you think?"

Releasing Katsuki's shoulders, All Might continued, "I'd like to ask you not to tell anyone about young Mikumo's quirk. I'm leaving it up to him whether or not he tells anyone, but for the time being he prefers to keep it to himself. There's also the matter of the person who kidnapped him. As my ward I can't keep the spotlight off of him completely, but I can protect him a little by keeping his quirk hidden."

"Is that what all this bullshit is? Your way of telling me to keep my mouth shut?" Katsuki was seething. "It's not like anyone'd believe me even if I said anything, so what's the point!?"

( _About half of the search results are obvious bullshit. Katsuki has to sort though hundreds of results for the few that hold a glimmer of truth. The ghoul quirk is stupidly rare, it looks like, and most of the people who've even heard of it don't even believe it's a real thing._ )

All Might got the answer he wanted, but he didn't look happy.

"Very well then, thank you for keeping quiet. Now then, classes are over, so once you change you're free to go for the day. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Oh yeah. He was still wearing his hero costume, except for his grenade gauntlets which were lying on Recovery Girl's desk. Fuck, he needed a shower too. It was only just hitting Katsuki that he reeked.

He didn't look at All Might as he grabbed his gauntlets and made his way to the door. Somehow, getting accepted into UA had turned out to be some sort of fucked up nightmare. Was he going to have to put up with seeing that fucking Emo Freak every day from now on? Katsuki was pretty sure he'd lose his fucking mind before the end of the te-

' _Fuck, he's here._ '

Katsuki froze as he stepped out of Recovery Girl's office and found himself face to face with Akatani Mikumo.

Emo Freak was standing stiffly against the wall just opposite the door. He was looking at Katsuki shyly, hands folded behind his back. His expression and body language screamed 'insecurity,' but he was actually looking at Katsuki in the eye this time. Where was All Might? Oh, he was already walking down the hall. Why was the freak hanging around then? Why didn't he just fuck o-

"H-here."

Suddenly Mikumo was thrusting the thing he'd been holding behind his back towards Katsuki's chest; Katsuki's heavy school bag.

Face contorting in rage, Katsuki spat, "Fuck off and-"

Mikumo set the bag on the ground by Katsuki's feet and bolted after All Might, who started walking again only once Mikumo was at his side.

"...die."

Emo Freak didn't even hear the last part, but Katsuki knew he knew what he was going to say. Looking down, he found a piece of folded paper sticking out of the top of his bag. He threw the strap of his bag over one shoulder while he unfolded the paper and read what Emo Freak had written.

'Thank you for coming to save me from those men, and for keeping my secret. I promise not to annoy you while I'm here.'

With an irritated grunt, Katsuki crumpled the note and shoved it into his pocket.

* * *

Well, he made it through _one_ day without Katsuki killing him.

Now Mikumo just needed to make it through the _rest of the school year_. That would be no small feat, but then, he'd survived three years of Shigaraki and his destructive tantrums. Still, maybe he would reconsider applying to high school next year after all. Anything to put some distance between himself and Katsuki.

* * *

Instead of arriving at UA on All Might's back like the previous two days, Mikumo walked in through the front gate hand-in-hand with Toshinori who was coughing harshly as he fought to regain his breath. Fortunately they'd arrived soon enough to avoid the students, but Toshinori had used up most of his energy on the way to school. The reason?

Reason number one was some huge mutant-class criminal who tried holding a family of three hostage. It was on the way, so it shouldn't have taken too much time out of their morning commute. But once that criminal had been dealt with All Might's ears picked up someone's conversation as they mentioned a hit-and-run several blocks over. With All Might's speed, he figured he could resolve the situation and still get to the school on time. That was reason number two. Reason number three took place in the next town over when several robbers barricaded themselves into the building they were robbing.

"We're going to be late, you know," Mikumo scolded in his ear as All Might rushed off to face yet another disaster.

"No worries!" All Might said in English. "I've got my eye on the clock! And it's a hero's duty to always respond do such situations when they arise!"

But All Might had duties as a teacher too, Mikumo knew. He hoped All Might wouldn't get into too much trouble.

* * *

Something crazy was going on out in front of the school. The two of them had arrived long before the crowd began to form, but all morning Mikumo heard the complaints of the teachers who had been harassed by media trying to get in to interview the number one pro hero... and discuss the rumors that he'd adopted a kid.

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. During the year between Mikumo's adoption and the start of the school term Mikumo had managed to stay below the radar by mainly staying inside All Might's apartment except for when he absolutely had to go outside. During those three hours a day All Might performed his heroic duties Mikumo lurked in the crowd, hood up and head down, but never stepping into the spotlight himself.

( _It's been two months since the 'adoption.' All Might is starting to let his guard down, not watching Mikumo as closely. He could run away now, probably. Just wait for a villain to attack and then take off. The tracking bracelet is a problem, but there are ways around it. Needles strong enough to pierce his tough skin make it so dislocating his thumb isn't an option. He could always... it would be unpleasant, but it's a pain he knows he can bear. And it will only take a few days for his hand and wrist to grow back_.)

( _"Young Mikumo."_ )

( _Toshinori's voice snaps Mikumo from his thoughts. When he looks up the skeleton man is holding a cup of coffee out to him._ )

( _"I thought you could use this," he says as he hands Mikumo the cup. "It will keep you warm."_ )

Ever since yesterday though, when All Might introduced him as his son in front of a classroom full of _teenagers_ the internet had been flooded with rumors about him, and then there was the commute that morning. Plenty of people had seen the Mikumo dangling from All Might's shoulders when he stopped to fight crime. The fact that top hero was teaching at the top hero academy was newsworthy enough. That he'd also adopted a child - never mind the fact that it wasn't a real adoption - had the most ambitious journalists crowding around the gates of UA harassing anyone they could get to stop for more than a few seconds for information.

All morning, Mikumo had been biting the inside of his cheek nervously. He should have been focusing on his own schoolwork, but the numbers and letters in front of his eyes didn't register; they may as well have been shapeless scribbles on the page. His thoughts were a million miles away.

One news story about Black Rabbit had been enough to draw hunters working for Shigaraki to Tatooin. When that happened Katsuki had nearly been killed. How long would it be before some shot of him hanging off of All Might's shoulders hit the internet or news? How long would it be before Shigaraki sent more men after him? All Might could only use his powers for three hours a day...

But then, Shigaraki didn't know that, and without his artificial humans he would think twice about attacking the number one pro hero directly. Probably. Maybe. Maybe not. Shigaraki wasn't exactly one to give up.

Suddenly the cushions beneath him shifted as a new weight settled on the couch. Turning his head, he found Toshinori taking a seat next to him, outstretched hand offering Mikumo the steaming cup of coffee he'd just made.

"Is everything alright, young Mikumo?" he asked as Mikumo closed his workbook. "You seem distracted."

Mikumo nodded, reaching for the coffee.

"Just thinking." He took a sip of coffee, relaxing almost immediately as the warmth hit his stomach. "It's nothing."

Toshinori sighed. Even is he'd grown more comfortable around Toshinori over the last year, it seemed Mikumo still couldn't open up to him fully. Akira had warned Toshinori that it would probably be a very long time before Mikumo felt he could fully trust anyone. He tried not to take it too personally as he pulled out his phone and checked his email.

He had just one new email. From the principal himself.

 **[No subject]**  
 **Principal Nezu pnezu**  
 **to me**

 **It's about the matter we discussed before. A possible candidate has been found among the third year students. Please come see me so we can discuss this matter in private as soon as you can. Thank you.**

 **p.s. I heard about your early morning activities. We'll be discussing those as well.**

 **Your friend,**  
 **Nezu**

Toshinori swallowed nervously. No doubt the principal wasn't pleased with him. But the rest of it was interesting.

He hadn't been expecting to find a candidate in the first week. On the third day of the new school year, no less. Out of the corner of his eye Toshinori watched Mikumo nervously sipping his coffee and staring off into space. The boy still didn't know about Toshinori's true purpose here at UA and for the time being he wanted to keep it that way.

The bell to signal the start of classes would go off any moment now. All of the teachers whose classes were being taught that day would be heading to class now or soon.

"Young Mikumo," he said, pocketing his phone. Mikumo blinked, attention returning to Earth. "I have some business I need to discuss with the principal in private, and I'm going to have to leave you with one of the other teachers."

"Are you in trouble?" Mikumo asked.

"No no no. Well, probably. Anyway, how would you like to visit Aizawa-kun's class for a bit?"

Mikumo eyes widened fearfully as his fingers tightened around the coffee cup.

"C-couldn't I just wait here?" he asked. "I'm not going to go anywhere. I'll just sit quietly and do my homework."

And he really, _really_ didn't want to be blown up. He was sure Katsuki would be _livid_ to have him bumming around in the classroom, and he had promised not to annoy the explosive teen...

"You know I can't just leave you alone," Toshinori replied. Scratching his chin, he thoughtfully said, "Maybe I should see if Midnight is busy-"

"I'll go with Aizawa-sensei!"

"That's what I thought."

Mikumo drained the rest of his coffee and set the cup down on the table before gathering up the workbook he'd been working on and accompanying notes. He figured he could leave his backpack in the lounge for later.

"Now, be good for Aizawa-kun, okay? Don't cause him too much trouble."

Mikumo didn't think he could be held responsible if Aizawa's classroom were to... suddenly explode.

* * *

Yesterday had been shitty. Last night had been shitty.

( _The nightmares are just getting worse and worse._ )

This morning had also been shitty.

( _Fucking reporters harassing every fucking person they fucking see going into this fucking school. No, Katsuki doesn't want to talk about the sludge villain incident, and no, he doesn't know who Black Rabbit is, and no, he doesn't kiss his mother with this mouth because he's not fucking five years old._ )

At this point, he was prepared for today's class to be equally shitty.

He was not disappointed when, lo and behold, Aizawa entered the class with Emo Freak trailing behind him, clutching a book to his chest and once again avoiding looking at Katsuki.

More than a few students perked up in interest when they saw the kid. Katsuki glowered at him.

"There aren't any extra desks, so just sit on the floor or something," Aizawa said. "I'm going to be discussing everyone's marks and evaluations from yesterday's battle trial, so listen up."

Katsuki's eyes followed Emo Freak as he made his way towards the back of the classroom.

"Bakugou."

Katsuki's eyes flew back to the front of the classroom. Aizawa wasn't glaring at him exactly, but he could see disapproval in his teacher's eyes. It was an unfamiliar look directed towards him.

"You can't just blast your way through every obstacle in your path," Aizawa chastised. "Next time, use your head before you try to blow up the building you're _in_. You're wasting your own talent."

Katsuki bristled.

"...I know."

One by one, Aizawa read off names and gave each of Katsuki's classmates his own two cents. The only one he didn't seem to have any negative comments to make about was the icy-hot bastard sitting near the back of his room. Katsuki craned his head over his shoulder to glare at Todoroki, but the ice prince wasn't looking at him.

Todoroki's eyes were on Mikumo.

* * *

It wasn't as bad as the first time. Maybe it was because Aizawa had such a commanding presence... Or, not so much, actually. Maybe it was just because most of the students in class 1-A had gotten their excitement out the previous day. Whatever the case, Mikumo was relieved to be left more or less alone as he made his way to the back of the room where he just sat on the floor, back to the wall, and knees bent so he could prop his open workbook against them while he did his schoolwork.

He didn't mind sitting on the floor all that much. At least the desks and people between him and Katsuki blocked Katsuki's line of sight. That was another bonus. Although...

Mikumo snuck a quick peek and saw that, yes, the boy with the white and red hair was staring at him again. His eyes shot back down to the math problems before him. Why was that guy staring at him? Did he know him from somewhere? Was he...

Oh, was he one of the students who wanted to ask him questions yesterday? Mikumo tried to think back to the moments before the training exercise began. It was mostly a blur of Mikumo feeling uncomfortable and wishing for All Might to get back. He couldn't pick out any specific details. He did remember watching the camera feed intently afterwards, the battles that had commenced. The split-hair guy - Mikumo couldn't remember his name - was so amazingly powerful, he'd felt his heart skip a beat watching his match. But having that guy's eyes on him now was kind of... chilling.

"Now let's get on with homeroom notices."

Mikumo hadn't even noticed that Aizawa had finished evaluating his students' performances.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you all, but..."

A strange sort of tension seemed to sweep over the room. Mikumo's pencil paused as he glanced at the back of the students' heads. Were they worried about something?

"We need to choose a classroom representative."

And like that, a collective sigh of relief swept over the bunch. Weird reaction.

The moment passed quickly enough though, and suddenly the room was in a frenzy. Mikumo watched, bewildered, as the students suddenly leaped from the seats, throwing their arms in the air as they shouted 'pick me' and 'I wanna do it!'

In a normal school, the position would just involve normal, boring classroom duties. In UA's heroics department, however, Mikumo got the feeling it would be a bit different. It would probably be a good position for aspiring heroes to show off their leadership skills. That explained the excited clamor over who got to claim the title.

Although, Mikumo couldn't help thinking that the students frantically screaming 'me me me, pick me' would probably have a tough time with the duties of class rep.

Aizawa wasn't doing anything to try to stop it. In fact, Mikumo couldn't even see the guy anymore from where he was at the back of the room. Shouldn't he have been trying to get his class under control? It was too noisy in there. He couldn't concentrate on his schoolwork at all.

With a sigh, Mikumo stood up. No one was paying attention anyway. He wasn't going to run off, just slip out into the hall where it was quieter.

He sighed in relief as he shut the door behind him, trapping the noise inside. What a crazy classroom. Everyone was so wrapped up with this class rep business that they didn't even notice him sneaking away.

For the next few hours Mikumo sat cross-legged just outside the classroom door, open workbook resting in his lap. It was a lot easier to focus now that he had peace and quiet. He managed to finish that day's assignment, and start working on the next day's work as well. Toshinori told him it was okay to take a break from studying every once in a while, but Mikumo figured while he was in the right mindset he should try to be as productive as possible. Once the mood left him, he wouldn't be able to focus on his homework if he tried.

"...You're not a student here, right?"

Mikumo looked up from his workbook, only mildly surprised to see a UA student standing over him. He'd heard the approaching footsteps, but assumed it was a teacher or staff member. He hadn't noticed them stopping right by him though.

He looked tired, Mikumo thought, with dark rings under his eyes and his blue hair sticking up wildly like he hadn't bothered to brush it after climbing out of bed in the morning. Was he from class 1-B? Or maybe one of the other departments?

"Hey, you deaf or something?" the guy with the tired eyes asked. "How come you're not wearing a uniform? And why are you sitting out here in the hall?"

Oh, whoops. He was probably expecting an answer.

"I-I'm not a student," Mikumo answered, glancing away. It was a lot easier to talk to just one person, but it was still awkward when it was a stranger. "I'm home-schooled. I'm just here 'cause m-my... my legal guardian works here."

Tired-eyes raised an eyebrow.

"And how come you're sitting out here in the hall like a problem student?"

Mikumo glanced at the door beside him. It was still pretty loud inside. He was pretty sure he could hear that guy who'd been wearing the motorcycle-knight costume the previous day yelling.

Looking back at Tired-eyes, he answered, "Everyone in there's crazy."

For a moment, Tired-eyes just continued to stare at him blankly. Then the corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly and he let out a soft snort.

"Fair enough, I guess." Tired-eyes cocked his head to the side. "Name's Shinsou Hitoshi, by the way. Mind if I sit?"

Didn't Hitoshi have some class he needed to be in? Not that Mikumo minded at all, but he didn't want Hitoshi to get into trouble.

"My name's Akatani Mikumo," he answered after a slight pause. "I-I don't mind, but won't you get in trouble for skipping class?"

Actually, what _was_ Hitoshi doing in the hall during class hours anyway?

Shrugging, Hitoshi took a seat next to Mikumo. He left a comfortable space between them, not touching or intruding, but not distancing himself either.

"My teacher asked me to grab something from the office for her. I was planning on taking my time anyway. The general department is pretty lackluster. I'd rather just kill some time here than go back right away."

General...

"You're a gen ed student?" Mikumo asked. A small frown tugged at Hitoshi's lips. "Er, sorry, I was just kind of surprised."

"Yeah, I wasn't lucky enough to get a flashy quirk suited for hero work," Hitoshi replied, voice taking on an unexpected bitter note. "I tried to apply for the heroics course, but the test was set up so someone like me was bound to fail."

That was kind of sad. Mikumo thought that if someone really wanted to be a hero they should be allowed to study to become one. Eraser Head didn't have a combat-oriented quirk either and he managed just fine.

"Uh, if you don't mind... can I..."

"You wanna know what my quirk is?" Hitoshi finished for him. "Sure. Why not. My quirk is brainwashing."

"Brainwashing?" Mikumo parroted, immediately latching onto the word and all of the implications that came with it. With a quirk like that...

Hitoshi looked away, bracing himself for the reaction he knew was coming.

"What a cool quirk!"

Hitoshi's head snapped towards Mikumo, normally tired eyes widening in shock while Mikumo started babbling happily, oblivious to the stunned look on Hitoshi's face.

"With a quirk like that making arrests without causing further damage would be really easy. You could simply take control of a rampaging villain and force them to turn themselves in or immediately diffuse hostage situations without causing any harm! Oh, but I guess it depends on how the quirk works or if whoever you fight knows how it works so it probably wouldn't work as well for a high-profile hero but if you pursued a career as an underground hero like Eraser Head it would be extremely useful. That's super co-"

Suddenly becoming self-aware, Mikumo clapped his hands over his mouth. He'd snuck out of the classroom for some peace and quiet, and now here he was running his mouth and probably irritating Hitoshi. Nervously, he peeked at the other boy out of the corner of his eye.

Hitoshi just stared at him. Not the way everyone else had been for the past two days. He just... stared, lips parted like he wanted to say something but no sound coming out. Like Mikumo's words were utterly incomprehensible. Mikumo fidgeted, eyes darting away.

"Um, sorry about that. I, uh, t-talk too much sometimes," Mikumo said bashfully as he mentally kicked himself for going on a tangent again. "S-still, I think your quirk is pretty cool."

After a long, awkward silence, Hitoshi finally said, "Thank you."

Now it was Mikumo's turn to be shocked.

"Eh? What for?"

"Literally _no one_ has ever told me that my quirk was suited to heroics before," Hitoshi explained. "Most people avoid me when they find out what my quirk is 'cause they think I'll use it to control them or something. Everyone assumes I'll use my powers to become a villain sooner or later."

( _"Not everyone gets a 'pretty' quirk like those 'heroes' the masses love to fawn over. There are plenty of people like you and me, kid. You're not the only monster out there."_ )

"...There are way worse quirks you could have."

Hitoshi's slight smile fell and brows furrowed as Mikumo's tone suddenly grew cold. His mouth was open to ask what Mikumo meant by that when the door to classroom 1-A suddenly slid open.

"Akatani?"

Both Mikumo and Hitoshi looked up to see Aizawa's white-and-red-haired student standing over them, mouth set in a frown.

"Who are you?" he asked, eyes zeroing in on Mikumo's new... friend?

Yeah, Mikumo thought he could probably call Hitoshi a friend. At the very least, he thought they might be able to become friends. Unless he was just getting his hopes up and Hitoshi just thought he was weird because in all honesty he could see that happening.

"Just some guy who should be getting back to class," Hitoshi said as he pushed himself to his feet. Mikumo followed suit, using his pencil as a bookmark. "It was nice talking to you, Akatani. See you 'round."

With that, Hitoshi turned and walked back the way he'd come, leaving Mikumo and Red-and-White behind. Mikumo didn't notice Aizawa poking his head out the door as he watched Hitoshi walk away.

"Oh, there you are." Mikumo jumped, whirling around to face the teacher. "I told you not to be a distraction. Running off and making people look for you is a distraction."

Mikumo hung his head.

"Sorry."

"I think he was just stressed by the noise in the classroom," Red-and-White said suddenly, drawing a surprised look from Mikumo. "He didn't really run off. He was just sitting outside the door."

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This is why I said this would be a bad idea..." Lowering his hand, he continued, "Whatever. Just get back in the classroom. There's still an hour left before we break for lunch."

Compliantly, Mikumo followed Aizawa and Red-and-White back into the classroom. There were a few relieved sighs and smiling faces as he stepped through the door... and a heated glare from Kacchan.

...Maybe he could convince All Might to leave him with Hitoshi's class next time.

* * *

Toshinori still hadn't texted him to say it was okay to go back to the teacher's lounge by the time the bell signalling the start of lunch rang. Mikumo wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. Did he stay in the classroom? Go with Aizawa? Return to the lounge anyway? Toshinori said he was supposed to be with a pro hero at all times but... there were pro heroes everywhere in this school. Hell, even the cafeteria staff were pro heroes.

He'd only just started to text Toshinori when a girl with a round face and round hair approached him; bounced towards him actually. Mikumo froze. She was just one girl, but...

"Akatani-kun?"

He'd never really talked to a girl before.

"U-uhm, y-y-yes?" His face felt warm, even though they were probably just making small talk. Unless she wanted to ask him about All Might as well.

"Well, we didn't get a chance to talk yesterday, and I'm kinda sorry about that," she said, playing with her hair. Was... was she nervous? To talk to him!? "My name's Uraraka Ochako. I was wondering if you'd like to eat lunch with me and my friends?"

Say 'no.' He knew he should say 'no.' He didn't want to be rude but if he tried to eat with her friends he would just be awkward and uncomfortable and he couldn't eat the food they served in the cafeteria anyway-

"Okay."

Mikumo wanted to smack himself at that moment.

"Yay!" Ochako's face lit up while Mikumo's heated up. Did she notice him blushing? He pulled up the collar of his shirt to try to cover his pink cheeks. "C'mon, they already left, but we can catch up with them!"

And before Mikumo could get a word in edgewise she grabbed his hand - not noticing the way he tensed - and pulled him along after her towards the school cafeteria.

She pulled him right past Red-and-White, whose eyes followed him until he disappeared out the door.

* * *

If he were a normal human - if he weren't a ghoul - the smells wafting through the cafeteria would probably be mouthwatering. But he wasn't, and Mikumo was having a hard time keeping his nose from wrinkling in disgust.

"Doesn't it smell great?" Ochako asked, waving at Lunch Rush as he passed by pushing a cart of pies to place on the dessert table. "I can't believe we get to eat like this everyday! And for so little money!"

"Y-yeah..." The sludge villain's rank breath smelled more appetizing than Lunch Rush's pies. "It smells great, but... I'm not really all that hungry."

"Eh?" Ochako shot him a worried look. "Are you not feeling well, Akatani-kun?"

Oh, right. People generally ate more than once a day, didn't they?

"N-no, my quirk just makes it so I don't have to eat very much."

"Really? A quirk can do that?" Ochako adopted a thoughtful pose, tapping her finger against her chin. "What is your quirk exactly?"

' _I'm a ghoul whose body is designed to hunt and kill humans for food._ '

"I can summon this... wing... thing. Uh, I call it 'ukaku.'"

"A wing? Just one?" she repeated, staring at Mikumo curiously before leaning back to inspect his shoulder blades. "I don't see anything like that."

"It's not... solid, exactly. Um, I guess it's like... a liquid muscle or something? It only comes out when I want it to."

Clapping her hands together, Ochako said, "That's so cool! You'll have to show me sometime."

He hoped he'd never have to.

Ochako and Mikumo continued to chat as they went through the line. Well, Ochako did most of the chatting. Mikumo mostly listened, nodding along making the occasional comment. It was so loud in the cafeteria, Mikumo wasn't used to noise levels like this. It made it hard to focus on what Ochako was saying. While she heaped her tray with piles of gourmet food, Mikumo poured himself a simple cup of coffee from the machine, forgoing the selection of creams and sugars artfully arranged for the students.

Mikumo expertly avoided bumping into anyone as he followed behind Ochako while she searched for the table where her friends were sitting. She still hadn't mentioned any names, but to Mikumo that didn't matter much since still hadn't actually gotten the names of any of the students in the class. Aside from-

"Oh, there they are!" Ochako said suddenly, waving over towards a table where a blonde and a red-headed boy were sitting side by side. "Bakugou-kun! Kirishima-kun! I invited Akatani-kun to sit with us!"

...Well, shit.

* * *

Katsuki was wolfing down his lunch, tearing into it and shoving it down his throat faster than his tongue could register the taste. Which was a waste, in the humble opinion of the shitty-haired bastard sitting next to him, who was watching him eat with a slightly concerned expression on his face.

"You... you're gonna choke if you keep eating like that."

"Shut up."

He just wanted to finish eating at get out of here as soon as possible before-

"Bakugou-kun! Kirishima-kun!"

Before Round Face showed up. Great. Scowling, Katsuki raised his head from his already half-empty tray to try to convey with his eyes for her to fuck off. And then he choked on the food currently halfway down his esophagus when he saw who she had brought with her.

"I invited Akatani-kun to sit with us!" she continued, smiling obliviously as the Emo Freak standing next to her froze up, coffee cup slipping out of his fingers and clattering noisily to the cafeteria floor.

Coughing, Katsuki fought to regain his breath while Shitty Hair pat him on the back. Katsuki smacked his hand away.

"I told you you'd choke!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Katsuki snarled. He fixed a sharp glare on Mikumo, who still hadn't moved an inch since first realizing who Ochako wanted him to sit with, and didn't even seem to notice he was holding air.

Mikumo abruptly spun on his heel and started walking in the opposite direction.

"H-hey, hold on!" Ochako said, suddenly sliding in front of Mikumo so she was blocking his path. "I know Bakugou-kun can be-" He tried to step around her. She blocked him again. "-a little scary-" He went to the other side. She jumped in his way again. "-and kind of a jerk-"

" _Hey!_ "

Snickers from Eijiro.

Mikumo tried to get past her again and again she blocked him with her body.

"-but he's not that bad, I swear! He has a couple..." She took a thoughtful stance again. "He has _a_ good trait."

"Oh, fuck you!"

At the same time, Eijiro and Ochako let out exaggerated horrified gasps. Katsuki's eye twitched in irritation while Mikumo, too bewildered to respond, just froze as Ochako clamped her hands over his ears after slamming her lunch tray down on the table.

"Bakugou-kun, watch your damn language!" she scolded while Katsuki fumed.

"Are you _fucking_ serious right now!?"

"I've heard worse-" Mikumo tried to interject, only to be shushed by Ochako, who had only just lowered her hands from his ears but was still blocking his escape route with her body.

"For goodness' sake, watch your gosh darn language!" Eijiro teased, which in turn caused Katsuki to hiss and spit even more.

"Seriously," Mikumo complained, voice soft. "I've heard way worse..."

That only earned more offended gasps from Eijiro and Ochako. They both shot accusing looks at Katsuki, who snarled at them in response.

"Fuck off! I'm not censoring myself for that Emo Freak!"

"Bakugou-kun, you really need to set a good example for our junior!" Ochako scolded, drawing a confused look from Mikumo.

"Um, I'm fifteen."

"Akatani-kun looks up to us highschoolers and- Wait, what?"

She rounded on Mikumo, who fidgeted uncomfortably in response to the disbelieving expression on her face.

"I-I'll be sixteen this July."

Both Eijiro and Ochako stared at him in shock. Katsuki rolled his eyes and went back to eating.

"...Huh." Eijiro looked Mikumo up and down, eyes lingering on his chest just a bit longer than normal. "Are you... a chick wearing guys' clothing or something?"

Once again, Katsuki found himself choking.

"What!?" Mikumo squeaked, face flushing. "I-I-I'm definitely a guy!"

"Hey, no judgements here," Eijiro said, putting his hands up in a disarming gesture. "Just wondering, that's all."

"Don't be ridiculous, Kirishima-kun!" Ochako cried. "How could you think Akatani-kun is a girl!?"

"I'unno," he replied with a shrug. "I think a high school girl could pass for a middle school guy with the right clothes and haircut."

"I swear I'm not a girl!" Mikumo cried. By now his face was as red as his sneakers and Katsuki was _done_.

"Is this seriously a conversation you're having!?" he demanded while Eijiro just chuckled nervously. At this point Eijiro's words had gotten even Ochako looking over Mikumo suspiciously. "If he says he's a guy then he's a guy, end of fucking discussion!"

He pointedly ignored the thankful look Mikumo sent him after he said that.

"Ah, right." Ochako at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry about that, Akatani-kun."

"Yeah, same here," Eijiro said. "But if you really are a girl, you wanna go on a date sometime?"

He hardened just in time for Katsuki's fist to plow into the side of his head, waiting patiently for a reply from Mikumo, who was staring at him blankly.

"I, um... I'm going to get some more coffee."

And with that, he bent, scooped up his dropped coffee cup, and booked a hasty retreat before Ochako could stop him again. Ochako and Eijiro watched him retreat back towards the lunch line, before Ochako shot Eijiro a sharp glare.

"You scared him away!"

"Hey! Bakugou was way scarier than me!"

"Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair!" With a growl, Katsuki shoved Eijiro aside. "Fucking move, I'm done eating."

Eijiro slid out of the booth just long enough for Katsuki to escape. His grip on his lunch tray was enough to leave his knuckles white and as he stormed off people parted around him, fearful of his literally explosive temper. Ochako and Eijiro exchanged a look.

"Well, that was a disaster."

* * *

Mikumo set the coffee cup on the counter by the 'return' window before heading for the cafeteria exit. He knew he should have turned her down, even if she did seem nice. He hadn't expected such a sweet girl to be friends with Katsuki of all people and that whole conversation was just...

Maybe being eccentric was a requirement for being on the hero course.

He dug his hand into his pocket for his phone and pulled it out to find he had three new texts from Toshinori.

 **[Text]: I'm sorry that took so long. I'm headed back to the lounge right now. Ask Aizawa-kun to escort you back.**

 **[Text]: Where did you go? Are you still with Aizawa-kun?**

 **[Text]: Mikumo, my boy, please call me.**

Whoops. Fortunately the tracking bracelet on his wrist sent information directly to Toshinori's phone, so his guardian at least knew he was still in the school building. Mikumo quickly started texting as he stepped out into the hall.

 **[Text]: I swear I didn't run away. Some students asked me to eat lunch with them.**

 **[Text]: It got weird, so I'm coming back right now. Sorry about that.**

He hit 'send' and stuffed his phone back into his pocket without waiting for a response. Toshinori trusted him enough to skirt the rules a little bit, but he knew Toshinori could get in a lot of trouble if anyone found out he wasn't keeping as close an eye on Mikumo as he was supposed to be. He needed to hurry back.

The sound of muffled cursing behind him caused him to jump. He quickened his pace, not quite running while he forced his eyes to look straight ahead. Maybe if he acted like he hadn't noticed, Katsuki would just leave him alo-

"Running away again, you emo fuck!?"

Mikumo halted, shoulders tensing. Of course he wouldn't be that lucky. Slowly, he turned around, finding Katsuki stomping towards him with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. At least it didn't look like Katsuki was going to use his quirk on him.

"Listen," Katsuki growled, coming to a stop before him. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Mikumo's face as Katsuki leaned down so they were nose to nose. "Just 'cause those dumb asses are falling for it, don't think I'm buying this timid lil' bunny act you got going on."

Mikumo blinked.

"Act?"

"You think I'd buy that something like you would be this much of a bitch who jumps at his own shadow?" Suddenly one of Katsuki's hands shot up like a snake to grab a fistful of Mikumo's collar. Katsuki pulled him up so he was forced to stand on his tiptoes as he continued, "I dunno how the fuck you tricked All Might, but sooner or later he's gonna see you for what you really are, _ghoul_."

"I-I didn't trick-"

The screech of an alarm drowned out Mikumo's already soft voice.

[THERE HAS BEEN A LEVEL THREE SECURITY BREACH,] a robotic voice echoed throughout the school building. Even Katsuki's grip slackened as he and Mikumo both stared up in response to the alarm. [ALL STUDENTS PLEASE EVACUATE OUTDOORS PROMPTLY.]

Level three? What was level three? What was going on? What-

"Shit." Katsuki's voice snapped him back to reality. "We're finishing this outside," he growled as he released Mikumo's collar and started down the hall.

"Wh-wh-what's level th-three?" Mikumo asked as he ran after Katsuki.

"What are you, stupid? No one told you about the school's emergency procedures when you got here?" Katsuki growled. "It means there's an intruder on campus."

"An intruder?" Mikumo slowed to a stop. Someone broke through UA's security system? Got past the barrier that surrounded the school? Who could have-

Shigaraki. It had to be. He had the motivation. He could destroy the wall protecting the school with a touch, though it would take time for his quirk to eat completely through the massive steel doors that popped up whenever someone without a student ID or pass tried to enter the front gate.

But why now? Had he found out where Mikumo was? Or was he targeting All Might specifically? He couldn't have rebuilt the artificial human factory already, could he? Did he have a backup plan? Or did Sensei-

"Hey you damn nerd! What are you doing mumbling to your..."

Mikumo snapped out of his thoughts. Suddenly Katsuki was standing right in front of him again, eyes narrowed into their usual fierce expression. Yet, as the seconds ticked by and the two stared at each other Katsuki's glare changed bit by bit, something that Mikumo might have called 'fear' if it was on anyone else's face flashing through his eyes while his jaw dropped as he finally registered his own words.

"...self?"

A tense silence fell between them. There was noise all over the building, the alarm still ringing overhead, frightened cries from the cafeteria where the mob of people attempting to evacuate in a rush had gotten themselves tangled in the bottleneck, the few students who chose to eat in their classrooms slamming doors open and stampeding past Katsuki and Mikumo, but in the space between the two of them it was like all time had stopped and no outside noise could break its way in.

"Ka- Uh, K-Katsuki-kun?"

And like that, the spell was broken. Katsuki pulled away from Mikumo, grinding his teeth so hard that even Mikumo could hear the grating noise before spitting, "Whatever. Evacuate or just stand there talking to yourself like a damn idiot. I don't care either way."

With that said Katsuki turned in a huff and stormed away. Mikumo watched him leave, wondering what he could have caused Katsuki to panic like that.

"Mikumo-chan!"

Oh shit. Ice water rushed down Mikumo's spine at the sound of that voice. He whirled around to find Midnight rushing towards him, but she wasn't wearing her usual flirty grin or spreading her arms out for a hug like usual.

"There you are! All Might's been worried sick!" she scolded. "C'mon, let's get you back to him."

"B-but the intruder...?"

"It's just the media," she assured him. Ignoring his reaction, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him along after her. "Eraser Head and Present Mic are dealing with them now and the other teachers are making sure no one else slips in through the gate."

"...So they did destroy the barrier..."

Midnight flinched, and he realized she hadn't meant to let that detail slip. The teachers were so busy trying to control the situation outside they weren't putting much attention towards controlling the panic inside. Fortunately - he saw as Midnight dragged him past the lunchroom - it looked like the students had realized it was only the press on their own and had calmed down somewhat.

But the media wouldn't have been able to get through UA's security on their own. They had to have had help.

Heart thumping in his ears, Mikumo decided it was time he told All Might about Shigaraki.

* * *

"Mikumo, my boy!"

Tears ran down Toshinori's cheeks and blood down his chin as he hugged Mikumo, to Mikumo's amusement and Midnight's disgust.

The scene lasted only a moment though, and when he pulled back he was quick to start the lecture, scolding Mikumo even as he wiped the blood off his chin.

"You can't just wander off on your own like that! You're in this school as a guest, you can't be without an escort!"

"S-sorry, I just..." Nervously, Mikumo fidgeted on the spot, playing with his fingers. "Uraraka-san invited me to eat lunch with her and I didn't want to be rude... I'm sorry, I should have texted you, I just..."

The 'stern' expression on Toshinori's face vanished, guilt taking its place.

"Aw, don't give the little guy such a hard time," Midnight said, patting Toshinori on the shoulder. "He didn't do anything naughty, and it's not like there's anyone on staff who doesn't know who he is by now. There's no harm in letting him wander around a little."

Mikumo wondered if Midnight would feel that way if he knew the truth.

"Yeah, but..."

"Being the 'stern' parental figure doesn't suit you at all," Midnight interrupted, flashing a slight smirk in Toshinori's direction.

All Might was being picked on again. What a bizarre school.

"N-no, I-I should have texted you before I left the classroom," Mikumo insisted. He bowed his head apologetically. "I'm really sorry."

With a sigh, Toshinori placed a hand atop Mikumo's head and gently ruffled his hair.

"Well, let's just not tell Mado-san about this, okay?"

Glancing up, Mikumo flashed a small smile and said, "Yes sir!"

Midnight tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Who the hell was Mado?

* * *

Finally, the police arrived and the press withdrew. The students filed back into the school building and teachers resumed classes. It may as well have been a fire drill.

The others were eager for whatever heroics training they were doing that afternoon. Katsuki was just hoping he would get a chance to blow something up. All sorts of unwanted thoughts were fighting for dominance in his head and he really, really needed to blow something up before he exploded.

( _"Hey, you shitty nerd, what are you doing talking to yourself?" Katsuki jeers, enjoying the way Deku tenses up the moment attention is on him. He looks like he's seconds away from bolting, but he's rooted to the spot. "Lemme guess, you talk to yourself 'cause no one else will talk to a quirkless loser like you, right?"_ )

God fucking dammit.

Why did that Emo Fuck, that goddamn ghoul have to remind him so much of-

No, nope, not going there. Katsuki forced himself to focus on what his raggedy-ass teacher was saying and block out everything else.

"-it was decided you'll be supervised by a three-man team, comprised of me, All Might, and a third pro hero," Aizawa was saying as Katsuki finally tuned in. 'It was decided?' Katsuki narrowed his eyes at the phrasing.

"Sensei, what will we be doing?" one of the extras asked.

Rifling through those weird ass rags he wore, Aizawa withdrew a laminated card and presented it to the class. In large, blocky letters was the word, 'RESCUE.'

"Be the hero everyone needs," Aizawa lectured, "whether it's a flood or any other natural disaster, it's the trial of rescue!"

The class broke out into excited chattering before Aizawa shut them up and continued explaining the exercise, only for more excited chatters to break out when he said they could wear their hero costumes if they wanted.

So basically, today's heroics training would focus more on protecting people than on combat, meaning Katsuki's chances of getting to violently destroy things with his quirk were pretty low.

Well.

Fuck.

* * *

The television screen was paused on a shot of All Might as he rescued a family of three from a musclebound moron who didn't think to check over his shoulder for a sneak attack.

Normally, the eyes watching the screen would have been filled with disgust and fury at the sight of the pro hero on the television screen, and while those emotions were present, there was something else there as well. Gently, four fingers of one hand came to rest on the television screen, lingering over the face of the small boy holding onto All Might's shoulders for dear life.

So that's where Yamikumo got off too. It figured as much. After everything All Might had put him through, now he was stealing his things as well.

But that would just make what he had planned for this afternoon that much sweeter. He could kill All Might and reclaim his lost property in one fell swoop.

Shigaraki grinned, the wounds on his lips cracking and bleeding as his skin was stretched tight.

* * *

( **Author's note:** I've got some sad news guys. Well, not all that sad. Sad for you, happy for me. My third quarter of school just started and with classes and homework taking up my time chapters are going to be coming out a lot more slowly from here on out. I'll try to get at least one chapter out a week, but please bear with me and be patient. Real life's important too.

Now, as for this chapter.

Katsuki's starting to figure it out, but there's that giant 'Deku is dead' mental block keeping him from making that final leap. It won't be able to last much longer though. Something will happen sooner or later to completely shatter that mental block. I'm really looking forwards to writing that part. I actually drafted three separate versions of that scene already. Hope you guys are excited for that as I am. Leave a review, if you want, and see you guys next time!)


	10. Has Left its Writing On the Wall

Being confined to the teacher's lounge was a punishment in its own right, as far as Toshinori was concerned. Being lectured by the principal, however, was worse. It wasn't that Nezu yelled or swore or anything, but despite the sheer difference in strength and stature, something about Nezu's penetrating gaze and disarming smile somehow managed to make Toshinori feel like a little kid again.

On the bright side, at least he wasn't being forced to pass the time alone. Mikumo had finished not only Wednesday's assignment, but also Thursday's and Friday's as well. Now he was playing a video game on his handheld while Toshinori checked his work. Still, he couldn't help worrying about the rescue training he was supposed to be supervising. He supposed it couldn't hurt to give the other two teachers on duty a call...

Then again, Thirteen already knew he would be late - he'd gotten hold of the space hero earlier - and Aizawa didn't care to be bothered. He'd give them a call a little later, after he'd finished grading Mikumo's work. Maybe by then he'd have the energy to maintain his hero form. Then he could at least put in an appearance before class let out for the day.

The students would probably be disappointed their celebrity teacher wasn't there, but it wasn't like it was a life or death situation.

* * *

Everything happened at once.

One minute, they were being briefed by a guy in a spacesuit for their rescue training. The next, all hell broke loose. The school's security sensors failed and a swirling black hole opened up in thin air. Out of the hole dozens of intruders came pouring into the rescue training center, vastly outnumbering the students and teachers of class 1-A.

Katsuki grinned, showing teeth. If these fuckers wanted a fight, he was more than happy to give them one. So what if they were adults? They were stupid enough to attack one of the most fortified hero training academies in the Japan, where the country's top heroes served as teachers. These guys couldn't have been all that smart to begin with.

Hell, their leader was a raving lunatic covered in disembodied hands.

But then Aizawa forbade them from fighting. He ordered them to evacuate before leaping into the fray himself. Katsuki wanted to be pissed, but Thirteen took command and ushered them all out. Despite his indignation, Katsuki joined the group as they ran back towards the exit.

Only for that same blackness that let the villains in - now taking a semi-humanoid shape with angry yellow slashes for eyes - to block their path. It was spouting nonsense - nonsense dressed up to sound classy, but still nonsense - about killing All Might.

Well, at least he'd get to fight _something_. With a smirk, Katsuki threw himself at the bastard, barely registering Eijiro's presence at his side.

Then they were swallowed up by the blackness.

* * *

Mikumo smiled as he flipped through the pages of his workbook. A ninety-three, an eighty-nine, and a ninety-two. Not bad considering he'd rushed through a lot of it. He went back, looking at the problems he'd missed and reading Toshinori's little notes outlining the correct way to solve them and pointing out the little mistakes he'd made with his numbers. Toshinori himself was on the phone, attempting to get in contact with Thirteen or Aizawa.

"That's odd."

Mikumo looked up from his schoolwork, smile falling as he took in the worry on his legal guardian's face.

"The call isn't connecting," Toshinori mumbled, not so much talking to Mikumo as he was speaking aloud. "Maybe I should-"

"You can't let the students see you like that!" Mikumo said, cutting him off before the idea could make its way into the open. "Maybe they're just busy?"

Toshinori smiled weakly and nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure that's it."

Except that Toshinori hadn't said they weren't picking up; he'd said the call didn't connect at all. There was no reason the signal shouldn't have been able to reach them at the training grounds. Mikumo knew that, just like he knew Toshinori was only agreeing to keep him from worrying.

Mikumo supposed the teachers could have shut off their phones so that they wouldn't be distracted during the training, but what if there was an emergency and someone needed to contact them? That could be dangerous...

"Hm, I think I have about ten minutes left in me," Toshinori mused aloud. He stood up, making his way over to the door. "If I hurry-"

"You'll get yelled at by the principal again," Mikumo pointed out, causing Toshinori to flinch.

"Ahahaha, he didn't _yell_ at me!"

Mikumo tilted his head in confusion.

"Then why did you look so scared earlier?"

Again, Toshinori flinched.

"I wasn't-"

Mikumo was staring at him with those big eyes of his. That big eye. He really needed to push harder to convince that boy to let him cut his hair. Or maybe not. Even with only one eye visible, the look on Mikumo's face was enough to cause Toshinori's tongue to falter over the lie.

"...Okay, I'm _slightly_ intimidated by the principal."

The corner of Mikumo's mouth quirked upwards slightly.

"But that doesn't mean-"

"But that doesn't mean what?" a familiar cheerful voice said, causing Toshinori to flinch and whirl around to find Nezu standing in the door to the teachers' lounge, expression pleasantly cheerful as always.

Mikumo wouldn't say so aloud, but he found the principal kind of intimidating as well. There was just something weird in his eyes that didn't fit with that cheerful smile of his. Like he was dissecting them with his eyes.

"P-Principal Nezu!" Toshinori said, forcing a smile to his face. "I see your fur is very neat today as well!"

Mikumo shot Toshinori a _look_ out of the corner of his eye. 'Slightly' intimidated, huh?

"It's the keratin," Nezu said as he strolled past Toshinori towards the couch. "Humans just can't achieve this level of luster. Putting that aside, did I happen to overhear you saying you were planning to head to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint despite the fact that you cannot maintain your powered up form?"

"Um..."

"Uh, Yagi-san's worried b-because he can't get ahold of the teachers over there," Mikumo answered for him.

"Oh, is that so?" Nezu asked as he clambered up onto the couch. "Well, I can imagine it. All Might has always been the type to jump into a situation regardless of the consequences. Isn't that how you got into the situation you're currently in? Although there are plenty of fine heroes constantly patrolling the city you couldn't leave things to them and simply _had_ to respond to every call for help between your home and the school."

As he spoke Toshinori shrank more and more, dots of sweat appearing on his face one after the other. He coughed, blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

"Er, well..."

"Ah, look at that! Even if you were to go to USJ now you'd just be getting yourself in an even bigger bind, wouldn't you? Why don't I make you some tea and ply you with my humble education theories while you take in some sustenance?"

Mikumo watched the whole scene wide-eyed. Then he slow-clapped at how masterfully Nezu had subdued Toshinori. Toshinori shot him a dry look.

"I just want to make sure everything is alright at the USJ," Toshinori tried. "I'm a little worried about the fact that no one's answering my calls."

"If you're that concerned I suppose we could send someone to check on the situation," Nezu said as he handed Toshinori a teacup. "Akatani-san, about how long would you say it takes you to travel three kilometers?"

"Eh?" Mikumo jumped a little as the creepy principal suddenly addressed him. "A-about three or four minutes?"

Toshinori sat up a little straighter, not liking where this was going.

"Wait a moment, Principal Nezu, he can't-"

"He has a pass," Nezu interrupted. "As well as my permission to be on school grounds. That's three minutes there, five minutes or so to find out what the situation is, and three minutes back, not so much time that he could get into any serious trouble, yes? Yes. And if he takes too long I believe you have a way of finding out exactly where he is, correct?"

It sounded alright to Mikumo, who had started toying with the bracelet on his wrist absentmindedly, but Toshinori looked unconvinced.

"...It won't take that long," Mikumo said after a slight pause. "I'll be back in about ten minutes. You won't have to worry anymore."

And Mikumo could get away from the creepy principal for a little while.

Toshinori studied Mikumo's earnest expression. It wasn't as though he was genuinely worried about Mikumo attempting to run away. Not after all the time he'd spent with the boy. But if certain people were to find out that he'd let Mikumo go so far on his own, and if those people took it as a sign that he wasn't taking his role as Mikumo's... _handler_ seriously the tenuous arrangement they had could be easily revoked and Mikumo would be placed in more unforgiving hands. Plenty of people held reservations about allowing a ghoul - child or no - anywhere near UA and its students.

The only way to lay people's fears to rest was to prove that Toshinori could be trusted to keep Mikumo under control.

"The last thing any child needs or wants is to have adults constantly hovering over their shoulders all hours of the day," Nezu said, as though reading Toshinori's mind. Knowing him and his quirk, he might as well have been. "How is Akatani-kun going to learn to trust others if he isn't given a little trust in turn?"

That had Mikumo staring at the principal in surprise. Nezu didn't seem to register Mikumo's shocked expression, his focus entirely on Toshinori.

"...Be back in fifteen minutes, okay?"

Nodding eagerly, Mikumo hopped up from the couch.

"Just go straight there and back, no detours."

"I understand."

"Don't talk to anyone you don't know."

"Got it."

"If you see anything suspicious-"

" _Yagi-san!_ "

"Right, right, sorry." Toshinori pat Mikumo on the head, smiling gently. "Just be careful, okay? Text me when you know what the situation is."

"I will, I will!" Mikumo assured him, holding up his hand with his pinky finger extended. "Fifteen minutes. I'll text you when I get there and then come right back! Promise!"

Toshinori chuckled before raising his own hand and hooking his pinky around Mikumo's.

* * *

Tenya's armor was designed specifically with his quirk in mind. It was aerodynamic, didn't impede his movements in any way. The material was strong and light so it wouldn't weigh him down.

And yet, his legs felt like they were made out of cement. Every slight movement seemed to make his armor clang and rattle, or maybe that was his brain bouncing around inside his skull. The air was like boiling tar in his lungs, thick and heavy and foul. It wasn't real. He knew it wasn't. It was like in every nightmare he'd ever had in his life, where no matter how fast he ran his body felt like he was trudging through molasses, but knowing it was all in his head did nothing to make the feeling go away.

A blur. Red and black. Something shooting towards him. A villain? Tenya screeched to a halt, every muscle in his body, not just his legs, screaming in protest as he slid into a fighting stance.

Except the person in front of him wasn't an adult. Not like the criminals and creatures swarming the USJ. Gasping for breath, he stared at the tiny figure standing in front of him, trying to sort through the fear and adrenaline to remember where he knew this tiny figure... with a flaming red wing, from.

"You're... from Aizawa-sensei's class, right?"

The fog cleared a little. Finally Tenya registered the curly black hair, the red and black clothes, the freckles...

"Akatani-kun?" Tenya took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he put his glasses back on and stared at Mikumo's summoned ukaku. "You're... Black Rabbit?"

He remembered watching the news story a year ago. It stuck in his mind because of what the reporters said about a villain causing pro heroes to hesitate... and because of the two teenagers who succeeded where the pros failed. One, his own classmate, Katsuki. The other... this child? _All Might's_ son?

"A-are you okay?" Mikumo asked, wing still flickering behind him. He didn't react to the nickname. "You look... scared?"

That was putting it mildly.

"The USJ's u-under attack, by a group calling themselves the 'League of Villains.'" Mikumo's eyes widened with each breathy word. "I need to warn... wait, where are _you_ going?"

He fixed Mikumo with a suspicious look, but Mikumo wasn't looking at him anymore. The smaller boy's uncovered eye was on the path Tenya had run from the USJ. Tenya watched his expression change, saw the gears in Mikumo's head turning and his hand shot out to grab Mikumo's arm just as Mikumo jolted towards the USJ.

"Whoah, whoa, _whoa_ , wh-what do you think you're doing!?" Tenya demanded as he pulled Mikumo back. "Y-you can't rush in there alone!"

"B-but-"

" _No!_ "

Mikumo drew back at Tenya's forceful shout. For just a moment he felt a pang of guilt, but that was less important than making sure his junior stayed safe. He couldn't let a child run off on his own to face actual villains!

"I don't know what kind of training All Might's given you," Tenya said, "but there are too many of them there, and you're just a kid. This is a situation best left to the pros, understand?"

He didn't get an answer right away. Mikumo bit his lip, and after a long pause nodded slowly. Tenya let out a sigh of relief.

"C'mon, we need to get back to the school building before-"

"You go," Mikumo interrupted him, sounding firmer than he'd ever heard the small boy. "You're faster... I won't be able to keep up."

Tenya studied Mikumo's face, searching for some trace of a lie. The boy was small, and meek, and yet, for just a second...

But he also had a point. Tenya had to get to the school as fast as possible and warn the teachers. He needed to get help for his classmates and Aizawa. Even outside of the USJ building he couldn't get his phone to work.

...He could get to the school before Mikumo could get to the USJ, he was sure, but he didn't know if he and the pro heroes could get there before Mikumo got himself hurt.

"Just... wait here. Or start heading back to the school, understand?" he said, hands moving involuntarily as he hoped his message sank in. "There's nothing you can do."

Mikumo hesitated before nodding again.

"Good."

Tenya wasn't exactly satisfied with leaving Mikumo here alone - What if the villains didn't stay in the USJ? What if they had allies hiding on campus somewhere? - but he couldn't waste anymore time. He turned and, sending a silent prayer that Mikumo would listen to him, raced towards the school.

He didn't see Mikumo start combing his fingers though his hair, brushing it to cover the other side of his face. He didn't see Mikumo disappear in a blur, running straight to the USJ.

* * *

All wrong. This was all wrong.

All Might wasn't there.

Yamikumo wasn't there.

Kurogiri failed to kill Thirteen. Failed to keep one of the students from escaping.

Shigaraki clawed at the section of his throat not covered by the hands he wore as he rambled. Kurogiri watched impassively, making no move to stop his boss from hurting himself.

"There's no doubt that if they throw dozens of pro heroes at us, we can't win," Shigaraki mused. "It's game over. Aaaah... It's game over... _for now_."

Because he couldn't give up on his goal. Not on All Might. Not on Yamikumo.

"Shall we hop back?" he asked, a hint of levity seeping into his tone.

There was a note of dissent among the villains gathered in the central plaza. None of them voiced it aloud, but Shigaraki knew they were questioning the decision to leave without really accomplishing anything. But none of them were strong enough to stand up to UA's teachers, and he was more than willing to throw them to the wolves if they refused to follow his orders.

"Are you certain?" Kurogiri asked, yellow slashes widening slightly. "After all our preparations-"

"All Might isn't here," he hissed. "There's no point to this if we lose Nomu before we even get to the final boss fight."

They were going to lose the advantage. UA's staff would be more careful in the future, up their security measures. They wouldn't get another lucky break like today. Especially not if Yamikumo figured out how they'd taken down the barrier.

Yamikumo... How much had the boy told All Might of him, Shigaraki wondered. Had he said anything at all? No doubt police and heroes would have swarmed their little hideaway already if he had. No, Yamikumo was keeping his mouth shut, like a good little brat. For that Shigaraki supposed he could be a little bit lenient with the brat's punishment.

But why, why, _why_ of all people did Yamikumo have to go running to All Might!? Did he do it _just_ to piss Shigaraki off? Was it meant to make him angry?

Well, it was working. Actually, just thinking about it - how Yamikumo destroyed his factory, how he abandoned him, went running to the one person Shigaraki hated more than anything else - was seriously. Pissing. Him. Off.

"Actually, before that," he hissed, turning his head towards the lake that surrounded USJ's central plaza, "why don't we take this opportunity..."

And then he lunged. Towards the lake. Towards the two children hiding in it; a little purple grape boy and a frog-girl with long, dark hair.

"... _TO TAKE THE SYMBOL OF PEACE'S PRIDE DOWN A NOTCH!?_ "

The girl didn't even have time to react. She simply stared at his outstretched hand, expression unchanging, eyes wide as she failed to comprehend the situation she was in. All five of Shigaraki's fingers came to touch her face.

But nothing happened.

"You really are a cool guy," Shigaraki mumbled, craning his head over his shoulder to glare at the man who had cancelled his quirk. A single red eye shone between the fingers of the disembodied hand covering his face. "Eraser Head."

Even beaten and broken, even with rivulets of blood streaming down his face, Eraser Head didn't stop fighting to protect his students. There wasn't an ounce of fear in the man's expression as he locked his red eyes on Shigaraki. There was only so much one man could do, however. Aizawa's head was suddenly, brutally slammed to the ground by the beast holding him, forcefully breaking his eye contact and knocking him out cold.

Eraser Head couldn't erase anyone's quirks with his head shoved into the dirt.

"Now... where was-"

 _Splash!_

Shigaraki's head snapped towards the lake where he saw expanding ripples and the girl's shadow under the water as she used the momentary distraction to escape with her little classmate. Ah well, he had other hostages he could use.

He thought he'd start by killing Eraser Head.

"Nomu," he said uncharacteristically calmly. "Rip his head off."

Despite having no ability to think or feel, Nomu seemed to grin. It lifted Eraser Head's limp body, long tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth before slathering over the side of Aizawa's bloodied face. Then it parted its jaws, beak-like mouth filled with rows of jagged teeth. A wicked grin split Shigaraki's face as he prepared to watch his pet devour its meal.

Eraser Head screamed out in agony and a shower of blood spurted from Nomu's jaws and Shigaraki's one uncovered eye slowly widened at the sight before him.

Eraser Head's body hit the ground with a painful sounding _thud_ while Nomu reeled back in pain, clutching its face and letting out an agonizing screech. One eye hung from its socket, bouncing with each of the monster's wild movements as it flailed and its tongue - severed down the middle - hung limply out of its mouth.

Between Nomu and Eraser Head, Mikumo stood, ukaku blazing out of his shoulder blade and right eye burning red.

"Oooooh." A slow grin spread across Shigaraki's face, hidden by the hand he was wearing. His eye was fixated on Yamikumo; beautiful, deadly, Yamikumo. "We get a continue."

* * *

( _"Yay, we get a continue!" Shigaraki says as the character on the screen revives. It's thanks to the item Yamikumo showed him how to get the last time they played together._ )

( _At the moment the two of them are curled up together, Yamikumo nestled in Shigaraki's lap while Shigaraki's arms are wrapped around his waist, chin resting on Mikumo's head. His fingers fly over the buttons as he resumes battling the mob creatures spawning in seemingly endless waves around his character. Even without concentrating he manages to keep his middle fingers pointed straight up, not touching the game controller as he plays._ )

( _Yamikumo isn't responding to anything Shigaraki says or anything happening on the screen. His eyes are dull and lifeless, and except for the slight rise and fall of his chest he doesn't move. Yamikumo gets this way sometimes - pliant and unresponsive - when their little sessions become too much to handle. Shigaraki doesn't mind too much. He even enjoys it sometimes. It's fun to take Yamikumo's limbs and position him like he's a doll to be toyed with, or to just hold him close like this, uncaring of the dried blood caking his skin. All of Yamikumo's wounds would have healed by now._ )

( _"The final boss fight is up next, Yamikumo-chan," Shigaraki tells Yamikumo, despite knowing he won't respond. "We're going to beat it together."_ )

* * *

Shigaraki was exactly the same as Mikumo remembered him. Maybe a little taller, but otherwise completely unchanged. Even with only one eye visible there was a chilling expression on his face, causing Mikumo's blood to freeze in his veins.

"Aaaaaaah, Yamikumo-chan," Shigaraki said, taking a step towards him and the artificial human. Mikumo tensed, but didn't move. "I was hoping to find you here. Although, I'm disappointed that All Might hasn't appeared as well..."

There were whispers from both the students of class 1-A - those still lingering at the top of the stairs - and the various villains scattered throughout the plaza.

' _How did he get there?_ '

' _Did you see him come in?_ '

' _What's that coming out of his back? Blood? Fire?_ '

' _He injured Nomu!_ '

Mikumo ignored them, focusing his attention on the beast in front of him. 'Nomu,' the villains were calling it. Nomu had stopped flailing and was now leering down at him. Mikumo watched as the halves of the creature's tongue merged together, and as it reached up and ripped out its own dangling eyeball, only for a new mass of flesh begin to form in its bloody eye socket.

Regeneration. Right. Shigaraki had said it would have that quirk, didn't he?

It looked angry.

"What, you aren't talking to me?" Shigaraki asked, sounding put out. "That's unfair. I'm the one who has reason to be angry here, not you. You're in for the punishment of a lifetime when we get back, but... that can wait until after we've killed the Symbol of Peace, hm?"

He didn't want to fight Shigaraki, but if he could just buy enough time, stall until All Might's time limit ran out or Tenya reached the school...

"Quick!" one of the low-tier villains behind him shouted. "Let's swarm the brat before-"

They were already too late. Mikumo fired a flurry of crystals at Nomu, aiming at its face. As it dodged he whirled around, grabbing Aizawa in his arms. It was a little awkward - Aizawa was so much taller than him - but he managed to lift the teacher and launched himself into the air. He zigzagged between the villains, reached the other side of the crowd, and laid Aizawa's prone form on the ground next to the fountain. The man groaned, drifting in and out of consciousness.

As he set Aizawa down, it occurred to Mikumo how easy it would be to make a meal of him in that moment. He pushed that thought into the deepest recesses of his mind.

"It's okay, I'm here," he said softly.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps reached Mikumo's ears and he whirled around, ukaku flaring angrily.

"You're not getting a-!" one villain screamed, raising the metallic, spiked club that replaced his fist.

In an instant, Mikumo was behind him, and the villain slumped to the ground, bleeding from the multiple shallow cuts that lined his body. A strategically placed cut across the back of each of his ankles kept him from getting back up.

The rest of Shigaraki's villains stood frozen, watching as one of their biggest, toughest guys was taken down by what they no doubt saw as a scrawny brat.

"I won't let you hurt anyone!" Mikumo announced, voice going cold as he let himself freeze. He spread his arms and legs, muscles tensing and wing letting out a brilliant red glow as he made himself a physical barrier between Aizawa and the villains.

"Are you _really_ sure you want to do this, Yamikumo-chan?" Shigaraki asked, tilting his head to the side. Amusement gleamed in his single visible eye. "I'm already angry enough as it is, but... Well, I suppose we could call this the mini-boss fight, before we get to the main boss."

With a wave of his hand, he commanded his remaining underlings to attack at once. They did, with only slight hesitation.

The red and black of Mikumo's clothes, eye, and wing ran together in a blur as he charged.

One man collapsed as a red slash appeared on his chest and blood spurted out. Another dropped after being struck in the jaw by Mikumo's foot. Several teeth went flying and he blacked out the moment his skull cracked against the floor. A third tried to grab Mikumo and found herself suddenly flipped over his head and landing on her back with a painful _thud_.

Mikumo dodged bullets fired out of one villain's fingers and then fired a flurry of crystals that impaled the villain's hand and pinned his clothes to the ground without any other damage.

"Got you!" a villain with a military haircut and stone skin screamed as he threw himself at Mikumo's back.

Mikumo's ukaku slammed into the man like a hand swatting a fly and sent him hurtling towards the lake.

Turning, Mikumo found the remaining villains who were still able to fight staring at him in stupefied awe. He shot them a glare and they dropped to their knees, placing their hands on the backs of their heads.

"Huh? That's really strange..." The sound of Shigaraki's voice drew his eyes again, and Mikumo tensed, waiting for either him or Kurogiri or Nomu to attack. They didn't. "Why aren't they dead?"

Mikumo didn't answer, not trusting his voice at that moment. Shigaraki continued to stare at him.

"You're high enough level, so why..." Shigaraki trailed off, eye narrowing in understanding. "Oh. Yamikumo-chan, he _nerfed_ you."

At his side, Kurogiri's nebulous form flickered in agitation.

"Shigaraki-san, if we wish to retreat we need to do so before their reinforcements arrive."

"I'm not leaving without Yamikumo-chan," Shigaraki hissed. "Nomu, capture him."

At the sound of its name, the artificial human - which had remained still without any orders to follow - sprang into action. Mikumo reeled back as the monster suddenly appeared in front of him and narrowly dodged a swipe from one of its clawed hands. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as that same hand swung back towards his face. Mikumo should have been able to dodge it, but even as he saw it coming towards him he couldn't make his body respond quite fast enough.

Nomu backhanded him, sending him flying. Mikumo righted himself mid-air and landed on his feet only to have Nomu suddenly disappear in a blur and reappear behind him. Mikumo barely dodged two more savage swipes and then lashed out, striking Nomu in the chest with his ukaku. The blow staggered him but didn't leave a dent in the artificial human.

"You didn't forget about Nomu's second quirk, did you?" Shigaraki teased as Mikumo continued to dodge Nomu's attacks by the skin of his teeth. "Shock absorption. If you want to kill him it'd be more effective to slowly and steadily gouge out his flesh."

Mikumo aimed his ukaku at its eyes again. Nomu's hand flew at his face and as he leaped back he felt sharp claws rake his flesh, hot blood spraying from the wounds.

"Of course," Shigaraki continued, "he's not just going to stand there and let you do that."

It was getting harder and harder to dodge. Mikumo tried to keep his breaths steady but he was wearing down, his lungs beginning to burn and ukaku dwindling slightly. It had been burning ever since he first bolted out the doors of the main building. If he hadn't summoned it...

"At your best, your speed stat's much higher than Nomu's, but he's got you beat in terms of endurance," Shigaraki said gleefully. "You can't win."

That wasn't going to stop Mikumo from fighting. The red of his eye pulsed while the bleeding gashes on his face finished stitching themselves back together.

Mikumo charged at Nomu head-on. Lipless mouth parting it something like a grin, Nomu raced forward to meet him, claws outstretched.

There was one major advantage Mikumo had over Nomu, and it was that Nomu was aiming only to capture, not kill. According to All Might's rules, Mikumo wasn't allowed to kill anymore, but did it really count when the 'person' was already essentially dead? Just a big robot constructed out of human parts that couldn't do anything but follow orders?

Nomu grabbed him in a crushing one-handed grip, pulling him close enough that he could feel its hot breath on his face. It smelled like blood. Mikumo could feel the bones in his arms and his rib cage buckling under the pressure. His ukaku flared between the gap in its fingers.

"Got you," Shigaraki sang, his raspy voice turning the playfully teasing tone sinister.

Nomu grunted in pain as Mikumo's ukaku suddenly dug into the flesh of its stomach.

"I-I'm not... going to lose..." With the pressure steadily building on his chest, Mikumo struggled to force his words out as the tip of his wing slowly pressed into Nomu's flesh. Despite the pain it must be feeling, Nomu wasn't letting go or trying to get away. "You s-said th-that... I should s-slowly gouge out its fl-flesh... right?"

The wing sank deeper into Nomu bit by bit, drawing more and more blood. Its grip wasn't easing up. If anything, it squeezed harder, and Mikumo heard several resounding _pops_ in his arm and a definitive _crack_ from his rib cage. Somewhere in the distance he was vaguely aware of someone calling out his name... Ochako?

"Nomu, get away!" Shigaraki shouted, but too late. Mikumo's wing crystallized, hooking into Nomu's insides. Blood and chunks of shorn flesh spurted from Nomu's wound as Mikumo's wing was ripped free.

Mikumo landed steadily on his feet. Strips of flesh hung from the end of his wing but plopped to the ground as the crystal became a dancing flame once more. His arm hung limply at his side, several popping noises echoing in his skull as crushed bone and shredded muscle began to knit back together.

"Ah, there we go!" Shigaraki said, almost cheerfully. " _There's_ the Yamikumo-chan I remember!"

Nomu was in much worse shape. It was trying and failing to cover the hole he'd torn in its belly, blood and intestines falling out onto the ground. Somewhere in the distance someone began to vomit. One of the villains most likely, unless the frog girl - whose name Mikumo couldn't remember - had come back. Mikumo's eyes lingered on the wound, and a voice in the back of his mind gently reminded him that these were _warm_ and _fresh_.

It smelled so good, and he needed the energy...

Suddenly the world went dark and Mikumo whirled to find the yellow slashes that served as Kurogiri's eyes before him. He was trapped inside a vortex of mist. Kurogiri had cut off all avenue of escape.

"I have you now, Akatani Mi-"

"DIE YOU SHADOW-ASS MOTHERFUCKER!"

The next few seconds ran together in a blur of activity. Kurogiri's voice was swallowed up by a blast and Mikumo's vision filled with light and then smoke - real smoke, not Kurogiri's misty form. At the same time something slammed into Mikumo. Arms like steel wrapped around his body and yanked him out of Kurogiri's reach while Kurogiri's metallic collar clanged noisily on the ground, pinned in place by a manically grinning Katsuki.

The air temperature plummeted and Shigaraki was forced to leap back as a wall of ice suddenly sprung up between him and Mikumo, red eye narrowing on Shouto as he appeared from the bridge connecting the central plaza to the landslide zone.

"I heard about you bastards' plan. About each of your roles in your scheme to kill All Might," he said as ice crunched beneath his boot. His eyes flickered towards the eviscerated Nomu before locking on Shigaraki. "I didn't imagine your trump card would have been taken down already though."

"You okay Akatani?" Eijiro asked as he pulled himself to his feet and offered the smaller boy a hand up. As he did his nose crinkled and he caught sight of the artificial human. "Man, you wrecked that thing's shit! Eugh... Sorry, I think I might puke here in a second..."

Mikumo was suddenly keenly aware of the blood on his face and found himself wishing he had his mask.

Katsuki let off a small explosion in his hand as Kurogiri tried to expand his form and the shadows receded into the metal collar, eyes glaring up hatefully.

"No funny business outta you, you shadow-ass mobling!" Katsuki threatened.

Mikumo stood. His ukaku had shrunk, but it was still flickering.

Eijiro's skin hardened and his hands became like blades.

Puffs of white mist rose from Shouto's lips as ice continued to spread across the ground from beneath his right foot.

And Katsuki, still keeping Kurogiri pinned beneath his palm, craned his head over his shoulder so he could glare at the ringleader behind the attack.

All four had their eyes leveled on Shigaraki, who stood passively before them, hands dangling at his side and head bowed.

"This plan of yours doesn't seem to hold much water," Shouto continued. "If you and your followers can't even take down children, what hope did you honestly have of beating All Might?"

Shigaraki sighed, gaze shifting from Shouto to where Katsuki had Kurogiri trapped.

"You've pinned down our revolving door..." he said, head lilting to the side. "Well now... this is quite a pinch."

Katsuki smirked, feeling vindicated that his hunch had been right. Kurogiri started to writhe again and he let off a small spark in his hand.

"Try escaping and I'll load you with a nice little explosion, right here, right now!" Katsuki snarled.

Eijiro shot him an exasperated look.

"Not very heroic there, buddy..."

Clasping his hands together, Shigaraki continued, "We've been cornered, and what's more, you're all nearly unscathed. Man, I have to hand it to kids these days... At this rate the League of Villains will be a laughing stock!"

Mikumo sucked in a deep breath, steeling himself as he met Shigaraki's eye.

"You lose, Tomura. Game over."

The air practically vibrated with tension. Shigaraki's body was slack but Mikumo could sense some kind of... excitement buzzing from him? Even with only one eye visible he seemed to be _smiling_ at them. At him specifically.

"Ahhhh, Yamikumo-chan, you didn't think that's all there was, did you?" he asked.

"Who's Yamikumo?" Eijiro asked.

"You only cleared the first stage," Shigaraki continued, ignoring Eijiro's question. "Nomu, it's time to level up."

At Shigaraki's command, Nomu stood, guts still dangling from its open wound. The four teens braced themselves for an attack, but it didn't go for them. Instead its bloodshot eyes swiveled around to the nearest living thing it saw that wasn't Shigaraki; one of the villains Mikumo had knocked unconscious.

Its movements were slowed, but it was still incredibly fast. Splotches of blood stained the pavement between where Mikumo had left it and where it now stood above the nameless minion. Still clutching its wound to keep more of its organs from falling out, it scooped up the villain in one huge hand. The four teens watched, stunned. Two of them didn't understand what was happening. Two of them wished they didn't.

Horror colored Mikumo's expression as the monster's eye - its left eye - changed; black swallowed up the bloodshot white, and the beady pinprick in the middle burned red. Then Nomu parted its jaw, raising the prone villain.

"Holy shit!" Eijiro said, blood draining out of his face.

Nomu fit the man's head and shoulders in its mouth before chomping down. There was a sickening _crunch_ and blood and strings of meat and cloth and one of the man's arm fell to the ground as the Nomu continued to tear off and swallow huge chunks of flesh.

Holy shit indeed.

"This isn't an enemy we can just subdue," Shouto said, eyes narrowing in fury and disgust. "We have to aim to kill if we want to survive!"

He knew that. Mikumo already knew that. He'd been trying to kill Nomu from the very beginning. But this... He flinched as the artificial human-

( _Artificial ghoul?_ )

-grinned at him with bloody teeth.

"You sick fuck!" Katsuki snarled. Glaring daggers at Shigaraki, he screamed, "You just kill off your own followers whenever it's convenient for you!?"

Shigaraki actually laughed.

"It's standard practice to bring lots of low level players to a boss raid, isn't it?" he said.

As he spoke, the Nomu finished its meal, and the change began. The blood dripping from its stomach wound began to emit a faint red light and its trailing guts started to... slither back inside.

"They're not there to do any of the actual fighting, just to draw aggro and distract the main enemy's spawns if it has any, so its expected that lots of them would die."

The change didn't stop there. Once the wound has sealed itself Nomu crouched, hunching forward to lean half its weight on its hands while the flesh on its back started to bubble and swell, like something underneath was trying to force its way out.

"If anything, we got off easy just losing one. Now..."

Nomu roared. The flesh on its back burst apart and two thorny tentacles swimming with the same burning, flowing blood-like substance that shaped Mikumo's ukaku waved behind it.

Forgetting to breathe momentarily, Mikumo failed to notice as Katsuki's eyes suddenly fell on him.

"H-how did you...?"

With just his eye, Shigaraki seemed to smirk.

"Nomu, go ahead and kill the explosion boy over there," he ordered without answering Mikumo's question. "We're rescuing our revolving door. Then I'm taking Yamikumo-chan back."

An earsplitting howl erupted from Nomu's throat. Katsuki reacted, but not fast enough; Nomu was so much faster now. He saw those purplish-red thorny tentacles shooting towards him, but it was like his body was moving in slow motion compared to Nomu.

The pain didn't come. Katsuki felt the warm spray of blood, but it wasn't his. Wide-eyed, he stared at Mikumo's back - when had Emo Freak moved? - and watched as a spreading dark spot blossomed across the back of the kid's jacket. One tentacle was pressing down on Mikumo's half-formed wing which he had thrown up like a shield and the other...

Even with Mikumo's back turned to him, Katsuki could see the blood spilling down to the ground from what must have been a massive wound on his front. _Through_ his front.

"Akatani!" Eijiro shouted while Shouto stared wide-eyed in horror.

"A-a-are y-you ok-kay?" Mikumo's voice sounded rough and wet. He was bleeding and he was shaking and he was... asking if _Katsuki_ was okay?

( _"Are you okay, Kacchan? Are you hurt?"_ )

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

An explosion parted the tentacle pressing down on Mikumo's wing. Suddenly Katsuki's vision was filled with black fog. He'd taken his hand off of the warp gate bastard.

"Shit-"

Katsuki felt the sting of Nomu's tentacles as those thorns raked the side of his face. The air froze, spikes of ice jutting up between him and the monster. The blackness cleared. Katsuki set off an explosion directly in Nomu's face, but the monster wasn't phased at all. With a roar it threw itself at him, smashing through the ice spikes. An explosion rocketed Katsuki out of the way as those claws split the ground where he'd been standing a split second earlier, tearing up chunks of concrete. Eijiro threw himself at the monster, his skin hardened as he wrapped both arms around one tentacle and tried to hold it back while it kept chasing after Katsuki. Layers of ice crawled across the ground and climbed up its legs to its neck.

"Where's Akatani?" Shouto demanded as he continued to build up the thick layer of ice covering Nomu, even as more cracks spider-webbed through it.

Raspy chuckles answered that question.

Kurogiri's nebulous form receded, shrinking back into a semi-humanoid shape, and as his mist cleared Mikumo reappeared within Shigaraki's hold. Shigaraki had one arm wrapped around Mikumo's throat - not tight enough to choke but tight enough to give pause. Four fingers of the opposite hand were pressed against the side of Mikumo's face, and Mikumo's eyes were wide with fear.

"You already know what happens when I touch you with all five of my fingers," Shigaraki said. "Now, _behave_. I'd hate to have to punish you more than I'm going to already."

There was a loud shattering sound as Nomu broke through its prison of ice. Eijiro let out a not-quite-manly yelp as the tentacle _threw_ him. His body bounced a few times before he managed to recover and pull himself to his feet.

"Shit..." He raised his fingers to trace the white lines Nomu's tentacles had scratched into his hardened skin, tiny beads of blood welling up on the surface. Gritting his teeth, Eijiro shouted, "Let him go!"

He leaped out of the way of another attack, ducked under one tentacle as it swiped at him and then was sent flying again when the second plowed into his stomach. He lay there dazed, hand coming up to trace the small holes the pointed tips of the tentacle had punched into his hardened skin.

"And why should I do that?" Shigaraki asked, chuckling in amusement as Katsuki let off a series of blasts directly in Nomu's face that did no damage whatsoever. He dodged its attacks masterfully, even navigating the air with that quirk of his, but none of his attacks even gave it pause. "I found Yamikumo-chan first. He belongs to me. That bastard All Might's the one who stole him."

Katsuki's eyes widened in realization before narrowing again in anger. So this was the bastard who...

Shouto created a patch of ice under Nomu's feet. It slipped and crashed down on its side before throwing its tentacles at him. Shouto threw up a wall of ice that was immediately shattered as the tentacles burst through and wrapped around him. Even Shouto couldn't resist the strangled cry that ripped its way out of his throat as the thorns sank into his flesh.

"Put him do-" Eijiro was cut off when the second tentacle slammed him down into the ground and held him there. Cracks formed in the concrete around him, as the tentacle kept pressing down.

"You may be remarkable children, but you're still only children," Kurogiri said.

In Shigaraki's hold, Mikumo trembled as he watched the battle. Shigaraki's grip on him tightened.

"Nomu is a perfect artificial human designed to withstand All Might at his best," Shigaraki gloated. As he did he stroked the side of Mikumo's face with four fingers, the fifth one a hair's width away from his skin. "Four brats like you don't stand a-"

A rapid succession of explosions cut him off, Nomu's two tentacles dropping to the ground in smoking heaps as Nomu screamed in pain. Katsuki smirked, throwing himself directly at the artificial human.

"DIE YOU BIRD-FACED BASTARD!" he screamed, pressing his palm flat against Nomu's face. It made no attempt to dodge, standing there and taking the powerful blast point blank.

Splotches of blood stained Shouto's uniform but he stood anyway. He stared at the artificial human, its head enveloped in the smoke from Katsuki's explosion. Had he succeeded? Was the monster dead?

The smoke cleared and they were met with a horrifying sight; brain blasted apart, bloodied, charred eye sockets leaking grey matter. But Nomu was still standing, new eye glaring down at Katsuki hatefully even as it reformed layer by layer. New extensions burst from the severed ends of its tentacled in a spray of glowing red fluid, good as new.

Katsuki reared back a second too late and Nomu's hand wrapped around his head, lifting him off the ground. One of Katsuki's hands came up to grab Nomu's wrist while the other pointed at its face as he fired off several more blasts, all to no avail. Even as the explosions blew away bits of brain and eyes the monster just regenerated right away. Annoyed by the explosions, Nomu slammed Katsuki's body down into the cement hard enough to leave an indent of his skull in the ground. Then it lifted him up and slammed him down again. And again. And again.

"Stop it..." Mikumo pleaded, flinching with each brutal sound of Katsuki's body striking concrete. The hole in his stomach was healing, but not fast enough. He needed to be able to fight. He needed to save Katsuki. "Y-you only wanted to kill All Might, right?" The hand moving on the side of his face paused. "Please, just leave them alone!"

"Akatani Mikumo, I advise you not to make any attempts to escape," Kurogiri said. "I would hate to have to amputate your limbs just to get you to return home quietly, but if you force my hand I will not hesitate to do what I deem necessary."

Eijiro hurled himself at Nomu. It batted him away with a tentacle. He hurled himself at it again and was batted away again, like he was nothing more than a troublesome fly.

A familiar burning sensation built in Mikumo's eyes. If only he could get even one bite of flesh...

Shouto wrapped half of Nomu's body in ice, precise enough not to catch Katsuki in it. The cold penetrated deep into its tissue and reached the bone. Nomu dropped Katsuki, whose limp body hit the ground with a thud and didn't move, blood pooling underneath him. Then Nomu snapped off its frozen limbs and tentacle. Immediately new bone and muscle grew from the stumps. It rounded on Shouto, letting out a roar.

"Nomu, stop toying with them," Shigaraki said. "It's amusing, but we only have a few more minutes at best before reinforcements arrive." His hand twisted in Mikumo's hair. "Kill them."

Turning its attention away from Shouto, Nomu raised one foot above Katsuki's head.

Before it could come down, a pink tongue shot out and wrapped around Katsuki's prone form and yanked him away. Nomu's foot created a cloud of dust as it crunched through the concrete where Katsuki had been laying a split second earlier. A green blur shot by, taking Katsuki with it as it came to a stop next to Eijiro.

"Asui!" he cried as she set Katsuki down on the ground in front of him.

"Call me Tsuyu-chan," she said.

Katsuki was in bad shape, but his skull at least seemed to be in one piece. Somehow he was still conscious, one eye open and glaring up at her as though resentful that she'd saved his life, while the other was squeezed shut due to the blood running down the side of his face.

"Now-" She turned around to face Shigaraki and Kurogiri. "-we have to save Akatani-chan."

"Save Yamikumo-chan?" Shigaraki echoed, clearly amused. "You're not even in a position to save yourse-"

Shigaraki's gloating gave way to a strangled scream as Mikumo suddenly sunk his teeth into Shigaraki's arm.

( _Don't chew don't swallow don' t chew don't swallow don't chew don't swallow don't chew don't-_ )

With a muffled curse, Shigaraki ripped his arm free. The moment he was no longer in a choke hold Mikumo elbowed Shigaraki in the ribs as hard as he could and then threw himself at Nomu.

"Why you... Nomu!" Shigaraki cried, desperation leaking into his voice as he cradled his bleeding arm.

Shouto erected a wall of ice between Mikumo and the two villains behind him. Nomu whirled away from its previous prey to round on him, too late. Mikumo's ukaku flared to life - drawing from reserves he didn't know he had in his desperation - and fired a flurry of crystals directly at its face. Nomu screeched as pieces of its brain were sheared away and its white eye was impaled.

The edges of his vision were starting to go black. Even though the injury itself was mostly healed, Mikumo was still _tired_. Between running to the school, rescuing Aizawa, taking down the small fries, and stalling Nomu, he'd expended too much energy. He just wasn't built for long-term battles, and Nomu was.

Nonetheless, he would continue to fight.

Nomu charged. Mikumo leaped out of the way as its claws gouged a hole in the ground where he'd been standing. He weaved between strikes, feeling the rush of air as those claws and tentacles barely missed him each time. Ice encased its legs and it broke them off at the knees to regenerate. Shouto continued to stall its movements with his ice, even as his skin grew paler and paler and he began to visibly shake. A thorny tentacle shot towards Shouto but Eijiro jumped in the way, wrapping his arms around it. Nomu lifted its tentacle in the air and whipped it back and forth but Eijiro held fast.

"Nomu! Kill the ice brat!" Shigaraki shouted as Nomu struggled to shake Eijiro off.

A blast to the side of Nomu's face went off before it could respond to Shigaraki's order. Katsuki smirked, despite the way his body shook and his vision faded in and out. Tsuyu supported half of his body weight, and when Nomu threw itself at them with a roar she launched them both into the air with her powerful legs, Katsuki extending their flight with an explosion that hit Nomu's back and sent it stumbling towards the artificial lake.

A thought occurred to Mikumo. He threw a quick look at Shouto to see if the same thought had occurred to him. Shouto nodded and then they both turned their eyes back to the monster.

Catching the exchange and with a sly grin of his own, Eijiro let go of Nomu's tentacle and landed on its back. It thrashed, reaching up to grab him and hurl him away. Suddenly Mikumo was in front of it, ukaku poised to tear into its face again. A tentacle shattered the ground where Mikumo had just been as he dodged to the side and then a hardened fist plowed into the side of Nomu's face. Nomu's tentacle plowed into him, opening up more tiny punctures in his hardened skin. Then the tentacle fell to the ground - still twitching - as Mikumo sliced through it with his ukaku.

With a ferocious snarl Nomu rounded on Mikumo who weaved between its powerful blows and led it closer and closer to the lake with each narrowly avoided attack. Nicks and tears appeared in his clothes and skin, blood welling to the surface but only in very fine lines. Even with his newfound adrenaline surge Mikumo knew he shouldn't have been able to dodge Nomu's attacks so easily. Regenerating its limbs so many times must have cost it a lot of energy as well.

If that was the case, if they really were wearing Nomu down, they might just actually wi-

His heel hit the edge of the artificial lake. A split second of panic had him hesitating and in that moment a massive clawed hand wrapped around his throat, hoisting him high in the air. This time, Nomu held him at arm's length.

"Akatani!" Eijiro cried. He tried to meet a newly regenerated tentacle with a punch but he was overpowered and sent skidding across the ground.

Automatically Mikumo's hands came up to claw at Nomu's wrists while his feet kicked at the air. His ukaku flared, crystallizing, but Mikumo screamed in pain as Nomu's tentacles wrapped around Mikumo's wing and _ripped_ it from his back in a spray of blood.

Several things happened at once; ice encased Nomu's arm as Tsuyu's tongue shot towards Mikumo, wrapping around his mid-section and yanking him out of Nomu's hold. An explosion at Nomu's back obscured its form but failed to push it over the edge.

Patches of ice appeared underneath Nomu's feet. Once again Eijiro launched himself at it, plowing directly into its chest with as much force as he could muster. The initial impact did nothing but as Eijiro kept pushing Nomu's feet slid across the icy floor. Eijiro gasped in pain as those clawed hands dug into his back but then he felt Tsuyu's long, sticky tongue loop around his waist and he was being yanked free, trails of blood flying through the air as Nomu's claws were yanked out of his skin.

Nomu's body created a huge splash as it hit the water, its tentacles flailing as it sank. Wasting no time, Shouto ran to the lake's edge, clouds of mist billowing out from his right side as his quirk transformed the lake into a massive block of ice. Nomu flailed for the surface, creating cracks in the ice that were sealed just as quickly. With each moment that passed Nomu's movements slowed and its struggles became more subdued. The ice continued to spread until the cracks stopped forming and Nomu could no longer move.

Sucking in a deep breath, Eijiro looked around for his classmates. Only Tsuyu was unhurt. Even he was covered in blotchy purple bruises, despite his quirk, and he got off easy compared to the others. Shouto, Katsuki, and Mikumo were all covered in blood, and Eijiro was pretty sure Katsuki was going to have a nasty scar on the side of his face later. Mikumo was kneeling on the ground right next to him, somehow still conscious despite the blood gushing from his back.

Shit, that looked like it really hurt.

"Don't fuck..." Eijiro started, sucking in a deep breath as he positioned himself in front of Mikumo, reinforcing his skin which had started to soften as the adrenaline wore off and exhaustion set in, "with class... 1-A..."

Shigaraki growled, hands clawing at his throat as his eye narrowed on Nomu's icy tomb, then Shouto, then Eijiro, who had placed himself directly in Shigaraki's line of sight to Mikumo.

"Yooooooooouuuuuu..." Droplets of blood appeared where his nails broke skin. "You used _cheats_. There's no way brats like you could beat Nomu. You _cheated!_ "

Kurogiri watched him, yellow slashes seeming to soften in concern, though it was hard to read a shadow's face.

"Cheated?" Katsuki growled, small explosions going off in his hand. "This isn't a goddamn game you bastard."

Steam began to rise from Shouto's body as he activated his left side, the frost clinging to his skin and hair melting and running pink.

Blood splashed to the ground as Mikumo tried to pull himself to his feet.

Despite the state they were in, Shigaraki's followers hesitated to make any kind of move on the five teens.

"Shigaraki Tomura, please calm yourself," Kurogiri said as Shigaraki continued to hiss and curse under his breath while clawing at his own throat. "It's true, that reinforcements are certain to make their appearance in mere minutes. However, these children are in no state to oppose us currently. At the very least, I propose we take this opportunity to reclaim your stolen property."

Slowly, Shigaraki lowered his hands from his throat.

"...Yeah, you're right."

Eijiro felt a chill run down his spine as the villain's one visible eye fixed on him, seeming to look _through_ him.

"Totally... utterly... on the nose," Shigaraki hissed. "After all this trouble... how could we possibly go home empty handed?"

"Wh-what the hell is wrong with you?" Eijiro asked, sharpening his hands into blades. "Akatani isn't yours!"

With an irritated hiss, Shigaraki threw himself at Eijiro, hand reaching for the redhead's face.

" _SHUT UP! YOU'RE IN MY WAY!_ "

Blood spurted from Shigaraki's hand as a bullet pierced his flesh.

"Sorry pardners!" a voice echoed out from the entrance to the USJ.

At once, everyone in the central plaza - and everywhere else in the training center - turned their eyes towards the entrance, some eyes lighting up while others went wide in fear or anger. At the top of the stairs all of the pro heroes of UA's staff stood shoulder to shoulder, and All Might stood at their head.

He wasn't smiling.

"We're regrettably late," Principal Nezu said from where he sat atop All Might's shoulder.

"I came back with all the people I could scrape together," another familiar voice called out. "Class 1-A representative Iida Tenya, reporting for duty!"

Mikumo stared up at them, relief washing over him. Finally... They'd made it...

"Aaaaaahhhh, they came, they came..." Shigaraki moaned. "It's our game over screen..."

A hail of bullets rained down on Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Arms like stone suddenly wrapped around Mikumo who - too tired even to flinch - passively allowed himself to be carried away from the villains as the pro heroes descended on them.

The black spots at the edges of Mikumo's vision were getting harder to keep at bay.

He was starting to remember why he'd liked heroes so much as a kid; how their appearance sparked hope.

Especially All Might.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he finally let himself sink into unconsciousness.

* * *

Pain.

Pain pain pain pain _pain pain pain pain painpainpainpainpainpainpainpain_ -

"Ow..."

The darkness cleared and Shigaraki slumped to the floor of the bar, bleeding from the bullet holes that riddled his body. Shit, that stung.

"They shot both of my arms and legs," he moaned, making no move to pick himself up. "We were completely defeated... by mere children... Even Nomu was done in! Our underlings were routed instantly... Those damn kids... Yamikumo-chan..." He craned his head towards the glowing monitor with the bold words AUDIO ONLY lighting up the screen. "Sensei, that bastard All Might turned Yamikumo-chan against me..."

"So, Akatani has found a way to the Symbol of Peace's side after all," a voice cackled over the speakers. "It's unfortunate, but not a totally unsolvable problem. Akatani has already proved to be useful to us. I, too, would like to recover him as soon as possible."

"Speaking of," a second voice chimed in, "what has become of that joint work of Sensei's and mine? Has Nomu's body been retrieved?"

Kurogiri, once again dressed in his bartender's uniform, answered in Shigaraki's place.

"I'm afraid the artificial ghoul was captured by the heroes," he admitted. "One of the children - the child of Endeavor, I believe - managed to capture him in ice by freezing the facility's man made lake. I was unable able to recover him and save Shigaraki Tomura's life as well. I offer my deepest apologies."

A sigh over the speakers.

"I loaded him up with power to rival All Might's... and you say he was beaten by mere _children?_ "

"They... It was five against one, including Akatani Mikumo and Endeavor's son," Kurogiri explained. "The children barely managed to scrape by. In the end they were unable to defeat Nomu through combat strength so they immobilized him instead. I should have stepped in. I will not make the mistake of underestimating those children from UA again."

On the floor, Shigaraki replayed the last moments of the battle in his head. The pros appearing, Kurogiri's mist surrounding him in a whirlwind as a barely conscious Thirteen attempted to trap them with his Black Hole quirk, and that red-haired brat pulling his Yamikumo away from him.

He would kill him. He would kill all of those brats who defeated Nomu and kept him from reclaiming Yamikumo.

"Oh well, it can't be helped." Sensei's voice cut through the haze of rage. "What a shame..."

"All Might didn't even show up until the very end," Shigaraki hissed. "That bastard... stood back and let those brats do all the fighting... then swooped in for the kill. If he'd come sooner we could have killed him... later and we could have gotten Yamikumo-chan back..."

"There's no use crying over it!" the voice that was not Sensei replied. "After all, it's not like today was entirely in vain."

"We'll gather a new group," Sensei continued, "hand-picked for efficiency. Remember, we can't move freely. That's why a symbol like you is necessary. Shigaraki Tomura! Next time, you must show the world the true horror of your existence!"

Next time... Next time, yes, next time, Shigaraki would succeed where here he failed. He'd make those brats pay... He'd make _Mikumo_ pay for betraying him in such a way.

This was only the beginning.

* * *

At this point, Katsuki was starting to realize that waking up confused in a hospital bed with a pounding headache was going to become a regular thing for him. Half his field of vision was gone, and when he reached up to touch his face he discovered why. His head and half of his face were wrapped in bandages.

"Hey, you're finally awake!"

Although not especially loud at the moment, Shitty Hair's voice rattled painfully around his skull and had Katsuki groaning. Fixing his unbandaged eye into a sharp glare, he turned to face the hospital bed next to his. Shitty Hair looked like a mummy, covered in bandages up to his neck, but he was grinning like an idiot nonetheless.

"Finally! I was starting to get worried man! Good thing your head's so hard, huh?"

"Jus... just shut the fuck up," Katsuki said. Across from him he could see Icy-Hot lying in another cot, thick blankets bundled up to his chin. He was still out cold. "What's up with him?"

Shitty Hair's goofy grin fell the slightest bit.

"Apparently he overused his right side and hypothermia started to set in," he explained. "Recovery Girl said he's gonna be okay though. Thank god, right? I almost can't believe we all made it outta there."

Katsuki actually didn't remember the end of the battle. It was a blur of angry voices and blood - holy shit that had been a lot of blood. Well, he could chalk that up to the head injury.

"What happened to that hand freak?"

"He got away," Shitty Hair answered, "but not before Snipe gave him a few parting gifts." He pantomimed firing a pistol. "The teachers rounded up the rest of the villains though, and cut that weird monster out of the ice. There were some cops in here earlier asking about the attack. They might come back in now that you're awake, just so ya know."

Great. If there was one thing Katsuki was not looking forward to it was being questioned by police again. Hearing that the ringleader had escaped did nothing for his foul mood. At least with most of its members captured that shitty League of Villains would be dissolved.

"Man, that whole thing was so fucked up," Shitty Hair continued. Katsuki wasn't sure if he was expecting a response or not. If he was, he was going to be disappointed. "How... how do you think that guy knew Akatani?"

Welp. There went his plans for ignoring Shitty Hair's rambling.

"How the fuck should I know!?" Katsuki snarled. Shitty Hair just chuckled sheepishly.

"I'unno. I kinda sorta thought maybe you two knew each other from somewhere or something. He actually came in before you woke up."

Katsuki sat up.

"Hah?"

"Well, he'd already healed up and wanted to see how we were doing. I guess he heals super fast, or something. Just like..." He trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence for Katsuki to get his meaning. "Good thing too. I didn't know anyone could survive something like... Fuck, that was _a lot_ of blood."

For the first time, Katsuki noticed the slight strain of Eijiro's voice, the pensive look in his eyes, despite his smile. Eijiro wasn't as nonchalant as he was trying to seem. He was just trying to project a sense of normalcy.

( _"It is, however, a power that can be easily used to kill people," Thirteen lectures, and like that the teacher has Katsuki's full attention. "And in that way, it's no different from the quirks of everyone here."_ )

( _Katsuki's brain doesn't quite register the viscera running between his fingers. He simply stares at the monster; brain blasted apart, bloodied, charred eye sockets leaking grey matter._ )

There hadn't been much time to think about it during the battle itself, but now Katsuki found himself staring at his scarred palms. He'd never used his quirk like that on a living person before. He'd tormented Deku with it plenty of times, letting off small sparks in the-

' _Defenseless_.'

-kid's face, causing small blisters and burns on his skin, but that was the first time Katsuki had ever put that much force in an explosion he used on a living thing. He'd been fighting for his life, yes, but shouldn't it have been a little harder for him to try to blow up Nomu's skull with his quirk? He hadn't known the extent of his opponent's regeneration abilities then. What if that had been enough to kill him?

' _Then everyone would see you for what you really are,_ murderer,' the Voice hissed in the back of his mind.

No. No, it wouldn't have been murder. Because those bastards attacked first. They killed one of their own and would have killed him and his classmates if he hadn't fought with everything he had. Besides, there was no point in worrying about 'what if's. The blast hadn't killed it, and he wasn't a murderer.

"-ou. Bakugou?"

"What?" Katsuki snapped.

"Uh, you okay dude? You kinda spaced there."

"Well, aside from feeling like I got hit by a truck, I'm feeling fuckin' dandy," Katsuki growled.

"Oh, duh," Shitty Hair said. "Your head's prolly killing you, huh?"

Katsuki glared at him.

"Right. Sorry. I'll shut up now."

With that, he clamped his mouth shut and Katsuki flopped back down on the pillow. He didn't close his eyes though. He knew that he wasn't going to be falling back asleep anytime soon.

Katsuki simply stared at the ceiling, replaying the battle in his head. Scenes flashed through his mind - Icy-Hot's raw power, Frog Face hopping to his rescue, Shitty Hair getting battered and beaten despite the armor his quirk provided, and Emo Freak...

The slideshow running through his mind paused on the image of Mikumo standing between him and that other ghoul. Rage and horror and indignation and other emotions Katsuki didn't care to name swirled in his gut. Who did that little bastard think he was, trying to protect _Katsuki_ like Katsuki was _weak?_ Like he couldn't take care of himself? Only to go and get captured three seconds later!

' _But unlike you_ ,' the Voice whispered maliciously, ' _he didn't_ need _to get rescued. He got free on his own. You had to be saved_ twice.'

It was like the brat was looking down on him, with that ridiculous timid act of his. As soon as he was out of these bandages, Katsuki was going to make sure Emo Freak _knew_ where his place was.

* * *

The police questioned everyone who had been involved in the attack, but Mikumo's interview seemed to run extra long, despite the fact he was lying in a hospital bed. Then again, considering all of his injuries had already healed, he supposed it didn't make a difference. He was thankful to have Toshinori with him, refusing to leave him alone in the room with the police. He was also thankful when Naomasa came in and dismissed the other officers, taking over the interview himself.

Unlike the others, Naomasa was happy enough to tell Mikumo about the other students and two teachers before taking his testimony. Mikumo was relieved to hear that everyone would be okay, although Aizawa had suffered an injury that could permanently affect his eyesight.

"Now," Naomasa said, taking off his fedora as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Mikumo's bed, "I'm going to need you to tell me everything you can about the people who attacked the USJ."

Biting his lip, Mikumo nodded slowly.

"Tomura and I... used to be friends."

* * *

( **Author's Note** : And here we are, the part we've all been waiting for. Originally I planned to have Mikumo ultimately defeat Nomu by himself, albeit with some help from the others, but then I decided that while I certainly wanted to portray him as strong I didn't want him to be too overpowered. I kind of like this version better, with the kids only barely scraping by and walking away covered in blood. 'Course, I probably wouldn't be writing a Tokyo Ghoul AU if I didn't like writing bloody scenes, would I?

Next time All Might gets to learn about Shigaraki from Mikumo's perspective, the Voice tortures Katsuki some more, and we get to see Inko again! Thank you for all of your lovely reviews and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up around this time next week!)


	11. Tag You're It

"I-I was only on my own for about a month before Tomura found me," Mikumo admitted, eyes on his hands in his lap. The look on his face was one of shame, like he was admitting to cheating on a test or stealing from his mother's purse. "I was tired and scared a-and I... started crying... then Tomura found me alone in the park and asked if I was alright... and offered me a candy bar. I thought he was a little scary at first, but he seemed nice. We talked for a while and then he left.

"After that I went looking for... for f-food..."

Mikumo almost never actually talked about his need to eat in front of Toshinori. Not even to say something as simple as 'I'm hungry.' Each week Toshinori picked up Mikumo's meals from the hospital while the boy was visiting his mother and each week the boy carefully avoided acknowledging the small cooler Toshinori carried. Toshinori hadn't seen Mikumo actually eat since those early months they were living together, before Mikumo had taken it upon himself to prepare his own meals, more often than not in the dead of night when All Might was fast asleep. The only assurance he had at all that Mikumo was in fact eating regularly were the paper wrappings he found in the trash and the monthly check ups during which the doctor assured Toshinori that the boy was slowly putting on healthy weight.

It wasn't fair to Mikumo, Toshinori thought. They should have been able to sit at the table and enjoy a meal together but, as much as he hated to admit it, there was a part of Toshinori that was thankful that Mikumo was so shy about eating in front of him. The sight of Mikumo with blood running down from the corners of his mouth still haunted his dreams.

"I, um... I found a guy wh-who'd, um... looking back, I-I'm pretty sure it was an accident, but I saw him standing over a dead lady behind a restaurant and he had bl _ood on his arms and thenhetriedtoattackmeand_ -"

"Akatani-kun, please slow down a little," Naomasa said, holding up a hand. "It's okay. You're not going to get in any trouble. Just relax and breathe."

Eyes slipping closed, Mikumo sucked in a deep breath before letting out a long exhale. Then he continued.

"I killed him." Mikumo was proud that his voice didn't shake as he admitted yet another murder to the police officer. "And after I did I... Someone showed up while I was eating. I think he just worked at the restaurant but... I was scared. I thought I'd be arrested and killed but then Tomura came back. He killed that guy and told me he'd take me somewhere safe, so I went with him."

Mikumo told Toshinori and Naomasa everything he thought would be useful to them; where he and Shigaraki had lived, the address of the bar with the name he still couldn't remember, Shigaraki's dream for a society without heroes... and the artificial human (ghoul?) factory, which he thought he had destroyed. Shigaraki was going to be furious when he found out, but then, he was already furious. At this point, Mikumo figured, he might as well go all the way.

And yet, as he spoke, Mikumo found his thoughts occasionally drifting back to the years spent with Shigaraki and Kurogiri, and no matter what All Might or anyone else might think, it wasn't all bad.

There was even a part of Mikumo that missed those days.

* * *

Time didn't mean much after those first few weeks. Shigaraki rarely planned anything more specific than 'tomorrow' or 'the day after tomorrow' and soon Mikumo stopped keeping track of dates altogether. His first birthday away from home came and went without him ever realizing it.

Mikumo didn't know how long he'd been with Shigaraki, but he'd hoped it would be longer before his new benefactor asked him to do something like... this.

"I got you a present, Mikumo-chan," Shigaraki had said before leading him down into the chambers below their bar. "I know you mentioned your food tastes better when it's fresh."

Although Mikumo had an idea of what he meant by that, it didn't really click until Shigaraki swung open the door to reveal a young man lying on the ground, wrapped up in chains with a dirty rag stuffed in his mouth to muffle his screams. Somehow, that only made the stifled, frantic shouts worse. Snot and tears dripped down the man's face and when his eyes landed on Mikumo his garbled cries increased in their fervor.

"I-I-I don't... I didn't-"

"This is the freshest it gets," Shigaraki cut him off. "Enjoy."

"I can't _kill_ him!"

The smile fell from Shigaraki's face and he stared down at Mikumo, expression hardening.

"Is that right? You didn't have any trouble with that other guy."

Mikumo flinched as though Shigaraki had physically struck him.

"Th-that's... He killed someone else first, and then attacked me, s-so..."

"So, what will you do if there aren't any bad guys around? Just sit there and starve?"

For several seconds the only sound that filled the room was the prisoner's garbled pleading for help and harsh breaths and the rattling of chains as he tried to worm his way towards the door. Mikumo watched him struggle desperately, feeling his stomach twist itself in knots.

"You don't get the luxury of picking up your meals from the grocery store like _normal_ people, Mikumo-chan," Shigaraki whispered in his ear. "You want to live, don't you?"

Did he? He had already tried to kill himself once but... It wasn't that he wanted to die, he just hadn't wanted to continue burdening his mother. He didn't want to live as a monster who ate people.

"I c-can't... I can't just kill someone who hasn't done anything wrong!" Mikumo protested, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. Some of the fear in the man's eyes ebbed and he looked at Mikumo gratefully.

Shigaraki scoffed.

"You think slaughterhouses are full of only animals that did something _wrong?_ " he asked, grabbing Mikumo's shoulders harshly, pinkies extended. "No, we eat what we eat because we have to to survive, same as you, except pigs and cows can't scream and cry and say 'please don't eat me.' Well, most of 'em can't. How do you think those few animals with quirks feel whenever they visit the grocery store?"

He gave Mikumo a slight push towards the prisoner.

"Just imagine he's a plate of ham and dig in."

"I won't!" Mikumo whirled around, facing Shigaraki with defiant, tear-filled eyes. "I'm not going to kill an innocent person!"

Eyes narrowing coldly, Shigaraki replied, "Well then, you can stay in here and starve."

Before Mikumo could register the meaning behind those words Shigaraki backed out of the room, slamming the massive steel door shut behind him. A clicking sound echoed through the chamber as Shigaraki locked it behind him. Mikumo threw himself at the door, trying and failing to yank it open before curling his hands into fists and pounding on the metal and begging Shigaraki to open it back up, screaming apologies, crying for him to come back.

He was met with silence from the other side.

* * *

After about half an hour of shouting and crying Mikumo gave up trying to get Shigaraki to come back. Eventually he'd collected himself enough to remember the man on the floor.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll untie you, just..."

He said that, but as he knelt next to the prisoner Mikumo found the man's hands were locked in heavy iron manacles that needed a key. If he could only summon his wing at will, Mikumo thought he could probably break, or at least dent, the metal, but then he might also cut the man's hands off so it was probably better that he couldn't. Instead, he settled for taking the man's gag off.

"Th-thank you" the man said as the saliva-soaked rag came out of his mouth. "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

He continued on for a while like that, tears still flowing, but less freely now. Eventually he gathered himself enough to form coherent sentences.

"Wh-where are we? Wh-wh-who was that guy?"

Mikumo knew he shouldn't really be answering this man's questions. Shigaraki was already angry with him. But he didn't want to sit in that dark, empty room in silence, so he answered anyway.

"We're underneath the bar," he explained, the name escaping him yet again. The address didn't though and when he rattled it off the man said he knew it. "A-and that was my friend, Shigara- uh, Tomura."

Shigaraki insisted on Mikumo using his first name.

The prisoner's eyes shot open wide in shock.

"That twisted maniac's your friend!?"

"H-he's not-! I mean, I know he does bad stuff sometimes, but Tomura isn't a maniac. He's j-just... trying to help me..."

"By forcing you into cannibalism!?"

Automatically, Mikumo's eyes fell to the ground.

"...He's not... forcing me..."

He could see the gears turning in the man's head, but it hadn't quite clicked yet. He stared at Mikumo, waiting for elaboration.

"I... i-it's my quirk... it makes it so I have to... e-eat people..."

And like that, the pieces clicked into place. Eyes widening in horror and fresh tears springing to his eyes, the man lurched away from Mikumo, screaming anew.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Pulling himself to his feet, Mikumo held up his hands in a disarming gesture as he tried to appease the frightened man.

"Please! I'm not going to-"

"DON'T COME NEAR ME! M-MONSTER! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! FUCK! I DON'T WANNA DIE! I DON'T WANNA-"

He wouldn't listen to anything Mikumo had to say. He squirmed and writhed and wormed his way across the room, as far from Mikumo as he could get before curling into a fetal position and babbling uselessly for someone to come save him. Utterly defeated, Mikumo made his way to the opposite end of the room, positioning himself as far away from the prisoner as he could for the other man's benefit before sinking to the ground and pulling his knees up to his chest.

He just needed to wait for Shigaraki to get bored and let them out. He would eventually. Mikumo was sure of it.

* * *

Shigaraki didn't come back for the rest of the night. Mikumo and the prisoner slept in the cell and when they woke up sometime the next day after a moment of disorientation and panic the man started muttering about how he was going to be saved, people were missing him at work, his wife would go looking for him, the heroes wouldn't let them get away with this...

Sometime later a foul smell assaulted Mikumo's nose. The man had wet himself.

* * *

It was hard for Mikumo to keep track of time normally, but with no clock or windows it was impossible to get any sense of the days or nights at all. After what must have been the second or third night - maybe the fourth? - the man's pleading and cursing and babbling had ceased altogether. He didn't move much either, except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. Eventually even that stopped. Mikumo tried asking if he was alright, but he didn't get any response.

How long was Shigaraki going to leave them in there? Mikumo missed his bed. His back was sore from lying on the cold, hard ground, and he was starting to get thirsty. He was bored too, having no one to talk to and nothing to do. He started cracking his knuckles, listening to the soft popping in his joints, just for some sort of activity. He'd methodically crack each and every joint in his fingers, and then his wrists as well and even his neck, sometimes trying to match the cracks to some imaginary rhythm.

...The man hadn't moved in a really long time.

"Hey, are you awake?" Mikumo asked. No response. "H-hello?"

Still nothing. Not even a curse. Slowly, Mikumo pulled himself to his feet. For a second the room spun and he realized belatedly he was getting dehydrated. Bracing himself against the wall, he waited for the world to right itself before making his way, one shaky step at a time, towards the prisoner.

"Are you okay?" Mikumo asked when the man didn't so much as flinch at his approach. That was odd. Kneeling down next to him, Mikumo placed a hand on the man's shoulder to shake him awake. "Do you need any he-"

The man was cold. Too cold. Jolting, Mikumo placed his fingers in front of the man's face, feeling no breaths, and then on his neck, feeling no pulse. Dead. He'd died of dehydration.

Mikumo had refused to kill him, but he died anyway.

Tremors wracked Mikumo's body and tears sprang to his eyes. Furiously, he swiped them away before forcing himself to stand. He made his way to the door and began pounding on it, the sound echoing through the otherwise silent chamber.

"Tomura, he's dead! You made your point! You can let me out now!" No answer. "Tomura, please!"

Still, he received no response. Why? Was Shigaraki still angry? Was he not there? Was... was he serious about leaving Mikumo to starve?

Sinking to his knees, Mikumo felt fresh waves of tears begin to fall. He stayed by the door, sobbing his heart out until he had no more tears to cry and eventually passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

Another day or so passed. Probably. Mikumo wasn't sure how much time had passed.

The corpse was staring at him accusingly.

...It wouldn't last forever.

* * *

Mikumo wasn't looking forward to eating food that had soiled its pants, but in this situation he knew he couldn't be picky. He started with the head first, scooping out and eating the shriveled eyes first so the corpse wouldn't stare at him.

The meat was a little tough and chewy, the blood thicker than normal. But it didn't taste bad exactly and Mikumo ate until his stomach was full to bursting, hollowing out the man's chest cavity as he devoured all of the organs inside. Once he was done eating, he went back to his spot on the other side of the room, curled up on his side, and tried to sleep.

* * *

Shigaraki still hadn't come back. Mikumo tore off pieces of dehydrated flesh and chewed on them, mostly for something to do as he paced around the room. He was starting to feel the effects of dehydration himself. The man's thick, sludge-like blood hadn't done much for his thirst.

...He'd never learned the man's name.

* * *

The meat had started to rot. As it turned out, Mikumo could eat rotten meat. It tasted terrible, but he hadn't thrown up once after eating it, although it was hard to tell if he was feeling sick from food poisoning or if it was from being dehydrated.

He was starting to think Shigaraki was never coming back.

* * *

It was after the corpse had been reduced to mostly gristle and bone that the door finally opened.

Mikumo didn't register the sound at first, head buried in his arms which were resting on top of his knees which were drawn up to his chest. He didn't notice the footsteps slowly coming closer until they came to stop before him, or the shadow that fell over him cast by the light that poured into the room through the now-open door.

When a hand came to rest atop his head he flinched, head jerking up, before he relaxed at the sight of Shigaraki kneeling before him. He couldn't produce any more tears, but he sobbed anyway as he threw himself at Shigaraki, burying his face in the older boy's chest while desperately hugging him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, I won't ever disobey you again, I promise, just don't leave me alone like that again, please, I'm sorry, don't leave me alone..."

Shigaraki hushed him while stroking Mikumo's - dirty, oily, tangled - hair, one arm wrapped around the boy's back.

"I promise, never again, Mikumo-chan," Shigaraki lied. "This was just to teach you a lesson, and I think you've learned it, right?"

Mikumo nodded frantically.

"You know..." The hand running through Mikumo's hair paused. "I've heard dehydration isn't a fun way to die. Your organs start failing, toxic waste builds up in your blood... It's a nasty experience."

Mikumo tensed in his hold, remembering the slimy, dark blood that he'd swallowed desperately as his throat burned for some liquid.

"That man must have been in a lot of pain as he died."

His eyes burned, but there weren't any tears to fall.

"If you'd just killed him in the beginning like I told you to, you could have made his death quick and painless. Instead, he slowly rotted away. Oh well, live and learn, right, Mikumo-chan? Now, let's get you cleaned up and go play some video games. I just got a new one that I think you'll like. Lots of strategy."

Pliant as a newborn bunny, Mikumo allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and walked out of the room. The world around him spun as he stood and he was forced to lean on Shigaraki for support. He didn't even notice how bad it had smelled in there until he stepped outside and got a faint whiff of fresh air.

That man had died with that smell in his nostrils. The smell of his own body rotting.

Because Mikumo had been too weak to kill him.

* * *

It was too dark. Too quiet. The scent of rotten meat and shit and piss hung heavy in the air, invading his nostrils, filling up his lungs. Eyes lingered on his back, staring at him accusingly...

After tossing and turning restlessly for hours, Mikumo gave up trying to fall asleep in his own bed and slipped silently out of his room.

The first knock got no answer. At the second, though, Mikumo could hear some muffled swearing and then the creak of floorboards beneath the room's occupant's feet. After a few seconds the door swung open to reveal a messy-haired Shigaraki in his plain white t-shirt and sweatpants that served as pajamas. The irritated look on Shigaraki's face gave way to confusion when he saw who it was at his door.

"Whaddya want, brat? It's like four in the morning."

"I can't sleep," Mikumo replied. He kept thinking the nameless man was still staring at him in the dark. "Can I... can I sleep with you?"

Shigaraki seemed to not know how to respond to that for a moment. He just stared at Mikumo, eyes wide. Then, after a long pause, he finally answered, "Sure."

Mikumo smiled thankfully as he slipped into Shigaraki's room.

He felt so much safer with a warm body curled around him, Shigaraki's hands - covered by special gloves that covered his middle and ring fingers but left the others bare so he wouldn't rot his sheets or mattress - wrapped protectively - possessively - around him.

The feeling of eyes on Mikumo's back didn't disappear, but at least now he wasn't alone.

* * *

It was several months before the next time Shigaraki told him to kill anyone again. Kurogiri went back to preparing his meals in small portions - never quite enough, but Mikumo couldn't bring himself to ask for more - until the weather changed and the air grew cold.

The second time, it was a girl. She begged and pleaded for Mikumo to help her, to run, to call the police-

This time, Mikumo didn't hesitate. He snapped her neck so she wouldn't feel any pain.

He and Shigaraki spent that entire afternoon playing video games while the taste of the young woman's corpse lingered on his tongue.

* * *

Not every day with Shigaraki was filled with blood and gore. Many days were wasted mindlessly playing video games or sparring or watching movies or just goofing off. Mikumo was rarely left by himself, and though Shigaraki's temper could have disastrous effects he was never randomly - never without a good reason - cruel to Mikumo. There were times when Mikumo feared Shigaraki, but he grew to genuinely like the older boy as well. He was pretty sure Shigaraki was the only friend he'd ever really had.

Once upon a time he thought he'd had another friend. Mikumo had even told Shigaraki about Kacchan before - careful to avoid mentioning Kacchan's real name - but Shigaraki was quick to dismiss the broken relationship between the two.

"He was never really your friend, Yamikumo-chan," Shigaraki told him as their characters weaved around the gigantic monster they were battling on the television screen. "At least, it doesn't sound like he ever considered you his friend. Sounds to me like that little brat just kept you around to make himself look better by comparison." His character set off a trap that had the monster stumbling and landing on its side. Mikumo took the opportunity to leap on top of it. "It's a pretty standard hero move."

"Really?" Mikumo asked as he hacked away at the monster's throat with his sword.

"Oh, yeah," Shigaraki replied. "Heroes are always competing with each other for popularity, you know? They'll take any opportunity to kick one another down to make themselves look better. Sounds like that kid was doing the same thing instinctively."

Mikumo wasn't entirely certain of that. It wasn't that Katsuki ever kept him around, exactly. He was usually the one following Katsuki. Still, he couldn't deny that in a way Shigaraki's words made sense. When they were younger, at least, Katsuki would invite him along on his excursions with the other rowdier boys, only to constantly belittle him and put him down, to the amusement of the other children. The nickname 'Deku' still stung, despite the fact he hadn't heard it in... half a year? Yeah, that sounded about right. Maybe Shigaraki was right. Maybe Katsuki hadn't considered Izuku a friend from the very beginning. Maybe Mikumo was the only one who thought they were.

The thought hurt more than it probably should have. But... that only made his friendship with Shigaraki all the more important. Aside from his own mother, Shigaraki was the only person who ever looked out for him, cared for him. Shigaraki told him constantly he was special. Everyone else only ever called him worthless.

"I could kill him for you, if you want."

He also offered to do things like that.

"No... that's okay," Mikumo insisted. Somehow the prospect didn't horrify him as much as it once would have. He supposed he had gotten to the idea of death by that point, but he still didn't want Katsuki to die. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm never going to see him again, so it's not important."

Later, at the USJ attack, Mikumo would be immensely thankful he'd never given Shigaraki Katsuki's real name.

* * *

Shigaraki and Mikumo didn't go out for fun very often, and when they did it was almost always after dark. Sometimes Kurogiri would accompany them, but usually he stayed behind to mind the bar. Shigaraki said he liked it better that way. Then they could do whatever they wanted without a boring grownup hovering over them.

That night they were going to the midnight showing of a movie based on a video game they both liked. They showed up an hour early and decided to kill time by playing on the classic arcade machines set up in the lobby of the theater. To them, it didn't matter what kinds of games they played; old or new, fighters, first person shooters, RPGs, horror, fantasy sci-fi. They loved all of them. One by one their coins disappeared into the machines as the minutes until the movie started ticked down.

With about half an hour remaining, Shigaraki stepped away from the game and said, "Be right back. Bathroom."

Mikumo nodded and kept playing.

"'Kay. I'll wait right here."

Shigaraki hadn't been gone for very long before someone else approached. At first, Mikumo didn't notice the other person peering over his shoulder to watch him lead his avatar adventurer through the virtual jungle on the game screen, avoiding venomous snakes and hacking through thick vines with a machete.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this."

Startled by the unfamiliar voice so close to him, Mikumo jolted, his avatar plummeting into a quicksand pit that sucked him down with a comical _shluck shluck shluck_. Mikumo whirled to find a boy close to his age standing over him. He looked more disappointed by the loss than Mikumo himself was.

"Aw. Sorry 'bout that dude. Didn't mean to make you mess up."

"Oh, no, it's okay," Mikumo said. "It was an accident."

He fished some more coins out of his pocket but before he could use them the boy who'd interrupted his game was plopping his own money into the coin slot.

"Lemme pay for it," the boy said before Mikumo could protest. "Since I messed up your game 'n' all."

"It's okay. You don't have to."

"I want to. 'Sides, we can play together!"

Saying that the boy put his hand on the joystick marked P2 and started scrolling through the available characters. Mikumo stared at him for a few moments before the corners of his lips quirked upwards in a tiny smile and he selected the same character he'd been using before.

It was kind of strange how easily this boy had walked up and just... started talking to him. Nice, bust still strange. Mikumo hardly ever spoke to anyone aside from Shigaraki and Kurogiri. There was Sensei, every once in an odd while, but Mikumo usually fell asleep during those conversations. He'd never gotten along with kids his own age before now. He wondered why it was so easy now.

The two of them navigated their chosen characters through the jungle, avoiding hazards and traps and taking down venomous snakes and cannibalistic mutants cooperatively. They chatted a bit while playing, the boy mentioning his school and his friends and Mikumo talking about his favorite video games and books. As it turned out, the boy had a lot of the same favorites as he did. Despite Mikumo's shyness, he found this boy very easy to talk to.

He got so wrapped up in his conversation about their mutual favorite book series that Mikumo didn't notice when Shigaraki returned from the restroom, a look of unbridled fury on his face as he saw Mikumo's smile directed at a complete stranger. Mikumo let out a startled squeak as Shigaraki grabbed his wrist in a four-fingered grip and yanked him away from the arcade machine.

"Wha- Tomura!? What are you doing?"

Shigaraki ignored Mikumo's protest, dragging him towards the theater. The boy stared at them slack-jawed, unaware of his character getting mauled to death by a saber tooth cat on the screen. With a frown, Mikumo yanked his shoulder free of Shigaraki's grip.

"I was still playing that!" he complained.

"The movie's going to start soon."

"We have twenty more minutes!"

"Well, I wanna get snacks."

"You could've let me finish the level while you stood in line."

"I don't want you talking to strangers."

Mikumo opened his mouth, closed it again, tilted his head to the side in confusion, then opened his mouth again.

"Huh?"

Shigaraki openly glowered at the boy Mikumo had been playing with - smiling at - over Mikumo's head, causing the boy to flinch and put his hands up in a disarming gesture. He started babbling out some half-formed assurance, but Shigaraki wasn't listening.

"I don't like him," Shigaraki growled. "I don't want you talking to him."

"B-but he's really nice!" Mikumo protested. "And he's really good at this game and he likes a bunch of the same stuff as us and I'm sure you'd like him if you got to know him-"

"No, I wouldn't," Shigaraki cut him off. He grabbed Mikumo's hand roughly and started dragging him towards the theater their movie was showing in. "I hate him and I hate that you were talking to him. I better not catch you talking to NPCs again, got it?"

"Tomura..."

Mikumo stared at Shigaraki's back as he was dragged along, before turning to throw one last look at the boy at the arcade machine. Flashing a sad smile, he offered the boy a wave goodbye before being pulled into the theater.

* * *

Fortunately the movie was good enough to pull Shigaraki out of his foul mood. Mikumo was glad that Shigaraki wasn't angry at him anymore, though he still didn't understand what had sparked it in the first place. He could understand if Shigaraki was angry he'd let someone steal his player two spot in the game, but if that was the case he thought Shigaraki would have just said so. This felt like something different.

But he didn't mention the boy again after that night and within days had forgotten about it completely. Almost.

[ _Movie goers discovered the corpse of a thirteen year old left behind Ankin Cinema late Wednesday evening. Although decomposition seems to indicate the body was at least several months old, friends and family claim to have seen and spoken to the deceased only hours prior to the body's discovery, and police are currently considering the possi_ -]

Mikumo quickly changed the channel to a kids' network as he heard the sound of Shigaraki's footsteps on the stairs. If Kurogiri found it strange, he didn't say anything.

"Morning," Shigaraki said, despite the fact that it was late in the evening.

"Good morning," Mikumo replied, sipping on his coffee.

He didn't say anything to Shigaraki as Kurogiri set out a plate of food for the young villain. He simply kept his eyes trained on the television screen, half listening to Kurogiri's and Shigaraki's conversation and half thinking about the news story he'd just witnessed. He couldn't say for certain the body they'd found was the boy from before, but... what if it was? It wouldn't be the first time Shigaraki had killed someone who annoyed him.

No, he didn't want to suspect his best friend without proof. He didn't know for sure it was the same person. It could have been some other kid's body they found. Maybe the person his friends and family saw was someone with an illusion or shape shifting quirk, and the reason the corpse looked so decayed could have been because it was really left to rot for that long.

Mikumo told himself that, but he was still wary of talking to anyone aside from Shigaraki or Kurogiri from that point on. Particularly kids.

* * *

Shigaraki had nightmares sometimes. What about, Mikumo wasn't sure. He heard the unintelligible screaming, butchered words providing no insight to whatever terrors haunted Shigaraki's sleep. Mikumo could hear him through the walls and, unable to sleep after hearing his friend in pain, slipped out of his own bed, crept to Shigaraki's room, and curled up next to him under the covers.

Shigaraki always slept peacefully with Mikumo in his arms.

* * *

Shigaraki got angry over little things every once in a while. Strange things that didn't make sense to Mikumo and he almost never remembered. What stuck in his mind were the after effects.

Eventually he learned to just... go away from it. Detach his mind from his body and drift away into a haze of static. When he returned it was often to Shigaraki holding him close and stroking his hair or face, apologizing fervently with tears flowing down his cheeks. Mikumo didn't like it when Shigaraki was angry, but he liked these moments, when his friend was gentle and kind. Shigaraki was always kindest after losing his temper, gently cleaning Mikumo's bloody or, occasionally, rotten skin with a damp cloth and wiping the tears away from his face.

His mother used to hold him like this; lovingly, protectively. The only times anyone else had ever touched him was to hurt him. He knew it was messed up, knew that it wasn't healthy either for him or for Shigaraki, but after years of living with a mother who was afraid of him and bullies who tormented him he didn't care.

As long as Shigaraki didn't leave him alone, he told himself he didn't mind.

Only, as it turned out, he wasn't the one who needed to be afraid of being left behind.

* * *

Toshinori watched Mikumo closely as he spoke, seeing the way his shoulders slowly drew up and his gaze occasionally drifted like he was looking at something far off in the distance. When Mikumo started trembling he reached out to place a consoling hand on his charge's shoulder. Mikumo went still before gently shrugging his hand off.

Naomasa was looking down at his notepad, circling the most valuable piece of information Mikumo had given him; the address of the League of Villains' base of operations, or at least one of their outposts. Despite the small victory, Mikumo was staring at the floor guiltily, like he'd just done something horrible.

"Well, I think that's everything we need," Naomasa said, flipping his notebook closed and putting it in the inside pocket of his trench coat. "There is one more matter we need to discuss though..."

Toshinori thought he had an idea of where Naomasa was going and tried to head him of.

"Tsukauchi-kun-"

"It's alright, All Might. Akatani-kun isn't getting charged with anything. The information he provided us will be extremely helpful in locating and arresting the individuals behind today's attack. Right now that's more important than arresting a miniature vigilante who probably saved a lot of lives today."

Mikumo blinked, mind locking on one word.

"Vigilante?"

Toshinori sighed and Naomasa offered him a wry smile.

"Technically, what you did today could be seen as vigilantism by some," Naomasa explained. "The use of quirks for _any_ reason is heavily regulated, and without a hero license it's illegal to use them for combat, except in self defense or, in certain cases, the defense of others. But that's usually only considered when the person involved was already present at the scene when the crime occurred. The fact is, you ran to the scene after hearing about it, and that's what pushes this into a legal grey area. Some might say you went looking for trouble."

Both Mikumo and Toshinori spoke at the same time.

"But I wasn't-"

"He would never-"

"Hey, hey, I'm just saying that's how this could be seen," Naomasa said, cutting them both off. "But it's like I said, I've got bigger fish to fry and no one could really blame me if one little vigilante just happened to... slip through the cracks."

Mikumo stared at Naomasa in shock while Toshinori sighed in relief.

"Akatani-kun, what you need to understand is that for the time being you have a lot of eyes on you," Naomasa continued. "You need to prove that you can use your quirk responsibly. Sometimes that means just... not using it. You're very lucky things turned out as well as they did this time, but that won't always be the case. Do you understand?"

Nodding slowly, Mikumo said, "I understand."

Naomasa smiled.

"And All Might, maybe... have a little talk with him about running headfirst into danger when you get home, alright?"

"Oh, trust me," Toshinori said, patting Mikumo on the head, "I've got a whole lecture ready."

Toshinori was pretty terrible at giving lectures, and he knew it. Mikumo felt the corners of his mouth quirk upwards the slightest bit.

Naomasa stood, grabbing his hat and placing it on his head as he made his way to the door.

"Um... Tsukauchi-san?"

Naomasa paused, turning to face Mikumo.

"Yes, Akatani-kun?"

"...What are you going to do with Tomura when you find him?"

A beat passed. Both Naomasa and Toshinori studied Mikumo's expression carefully. The boy's one uncovered eye was fixed firmly on Naomasa's face, not even blinking.

"You're not going to hurt him, right?" Mikumo asked when he didn't receive an immediate answer.

"Ideally, no. I'd like to apprehend him without _anyone_ getting hurt, but unfortunately things rarely work out that way," Naomasa answered. He carefully maintained a neutral expression, but Toshinori could see the slight crease of his brow and hear the care with which he weighed his words.

"He's not bad," Mikumo insisted. "Not completely, I mean. I know he does terrible things, but... I think he just needs help. Like me. Tomura's had a lot of bad things happen to him too."

There was another long pause before Naomasa answered, "I'll take that into consideration, but please understand, what ultimately happens to Shigaraki will largely depend on his own actions. I'm afraid there won't be much we can do for him if he continues on the path he's currently on."

Toshinori watched the slight downward turn of Mikumo's lips. After a moment, Mikumo nodded in understanding, but it did nothing to ease the sour feeling swirling in Toshinori's gut.

* * *

Even after Recovery Girl used her quirk to heal the worst of their injuries, she kept Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shouto in her clinic until long after the school day had ended to let them rest and regain the energy their bodies had used up. By the time they were finally released the sky had been painted bright orange by the setting sun and the rest of the students had already been released by the police and encouraged to go home. The school was nearly empty by that point, the students running off to tell their friends and family at home about the villain attack.

Most of them, anyway.

Shouto lingered in front of the school, dropping his father's name when the police urged him not to linger and promising he'd be on his way once he'd spoken with one of his teachers about something important.

Though, it wasn't the teacher he wanted to speak to.

Eijiro had told him that Mikumo visited while he was still recovering. Apparently one of the police officers investigating the attack had pulled him away before Shouto had awoken or gotten a chance to speak to him about... he wasn't sure where to begin at this point.

The relief had been almost overwhelming when Shouto realized he had been mistaken about the source of Mikumo's nervous and defensive behavior. The dialogue between him and the villains' leader made that much clear, as did the gentle, protective way All Might had handled Mikumo's unconscious body as Eijiro carefully handed him over. As someone who'd looked up to All Might as a child - still did, somewhat - Shouto couldn't help _wanting_ to be proven wrong in this particular instance.

Still, that left so many other questions. Like the nature of the relationship between Mikumo and the villain and the connection between his quirk and Nomu's. Shouto was sure he wasn't the only one who noticed their identical eyes and the strange substance that shaped both Mikumo's wing and Nomu's tentacles. Had anyone else made the connection, he wondered. Was All Might aware of it? Did he adopt Mikumo because of those strange connections?

It was funny. He'd been interested in Mikumo at first because of the strange boy's connection to his father's rival. Now he was just interested in figuring out Mikumo.

The sound of voices snapped Shouto out of his thoughts and his eyes shot up from the empty space they'd been boring holes into to stare at the two people walking out the front doors of UA.

"-ince there won't be any classes?"

"That sounds like a fine idea. I'm sure Midoriya-san would be very happy to see you."

Shouto raised an eyebrow. Neither All Might or Mikumo had noticed him yet. Mikumo was staring up at All Might with a warm smile on his face, so unlike the nervous, jittery expression he wore in class or the cold one he wore during the USJ attack.

"Let's stop by the bookstore first. Her favorite author just released a new book and I bet it gets boring in the hospi-"

Mikumo noticed Shouto and there was an immediate change in demeanor. His smile evaporated, shoulders going rigid while his steps faltered. Shouto noted the way he inched towards All Might, as though using the large man as a shield. He was so different now compared to how he acted during the attack. There he'd been almost calm. No, maybe 'calm' wasn't the right word, but... he'd been in his element, Shouto realized. This was someone who was more comfortable in a fight than in a room full of strangers. Shouto opened his mouth to speak, but no words came to mind.

He finally had Mikumo in front of him, and Shouto realized abruptly that he had no idea what he actually wanted to say.

"Ah, young Todoroki! I'm glad to see you're up and about!" All Might exclaimed as he beamed at Shouto. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Shouto's eyes lingered on Mikumo, on his ruined clothes. The hero suits the students wore were made to take the punishment of intense battle, but Mikumo had been wearing only his ordinary not-uniform, which hadn't fared well in the fight against the League of Villains. It was stained with blood - which, fortunately, didn't stand out against the black and red material - and full of ragged rips and tears.

Through the largest tear Shouto could see the smooth skin where the Nomu's tentacle had impaled him. There wasn't so much as a faint scratch to indicate such an injury had ever occurred.

Would Mikumo's ability to regenerate go as far as Nomu's? If he were to lose a limb would he be able to heal it in a matter of seconds like Nomu had?

"...I just wanted to see if Akatani was okay," Shouto answered after a long pause. "I wasn't sure you'd be able to recover from something like that, even with Recovery Girl's quirk. I'm... I'm glad to see you're doing better."

Ever so slightly, Mikumo's eyes widened. Like he was surprised to have concern directed towards him. Shouto thought that was it, anyway.

"Uh, y-yeah, I heal fast," Mikumo said, not quite meeting Shouto's eyes at first. When he finally did did it seemed like he was making an effort to do so. "I-I-I'm glad you're feeling better too."

Shouto nodded.

"I was able to raise my body temperature before the damage became too serious, and Recovery Girl took care of the rest," he explained. "I was surprised to see you still fighting with an injury like that. Are you sure you're alright?"

"...I heal _really_ fast."

"I... see."

And like that, Shouto's well ran dry. He had no idea what to say or how to put words to the questions racing through his mind. It might have been one thing if it were just him and Mikumo speaking directly to one another, but with All Might there serving as a literal and metaphorical barrier between the two of them it felt like the wrong time to have the conversation he'd been hoping for.

"At any rate, shouldn't you be heading home, young Todoroki?" All Might said, as though he had been waiting for Shouto's silent cue. "I'm sure your family must be very worried about you."

Shouto's face didn't betray the slightest hint of emotion.

"I already called ahead, but thank you for worrying." He turned, eyes lingering on Mikumo for a moment longer. "You shouldn't be so reckless when you fight. A dead hero isn't much good to anyone."

Mikumo blinked, brain not quite processing the words before understanding struck and he opened his mouth to protest.

"But I'm not-"

Without giving him a chance to finish, Shouto had turned his back and started to walk away, leaving Mikumo and All Might behind. Although All Might was smiling as usual Mikumo could tell he was just as confused by the strange interaction as he was.

"What... was that about?" he asked once Shouto was out of earshot.

"I wish I could tell you," All Might answered. "I can't say I know much about young Todoroki, but I have to agree with him."

"Eh?" Mikumo's head snapped up and he fixed All Might with a bewildered look. "About what?"

All Might sighed, not quite matching with the wide grin he was still sporting.

"Young Mikumo, while I'm proud your first instinct when you hear someone is in trouble is to try to help, I wish you would take your own well being into account more."

"But-"

"It's not _just_ that you ran to the battle without coming to get me," All Might continued. "Young Kirishima told me what happened during your fight with Nomu. I'm not happy that you used your body like a shield for young Bakugou."

Unthinking, Mikumo placed a hand over his stomach, feeling the smooth skin where Nomu's tentacle had impaled him.

"I- It's fine, isn't it? I already healed, so..."

"It's not fine. It was enough to take you out of the fight, even temporarily and you could have been..." All Might's smile faltered a little. With a start, Mikumo realized All Might's hands, which were clenched into fists, were trembling. "You could have been killed. Or captured."

"But if I didn't do that, Kacchan would have died!" Mikumo protested.

"And there was nothing else you could do?"

"I didn't have time to think-"

"You didn't have time to think of grabbing him or pushing him out of the way?" All Might cut him off. "That's what I find most concerning; that your first instinct is to sacrifice yourself."

Shamefully, Mikumo stared down at the floor.

"Mikumo, my boy, you are an incredibly brave and kind person." All Might placed both hands on Mikumo's shoulders and gave a firm but gentle squeeze. "But your willingness to sacrifice yourself concerns me. Your life is valuable too. I wish you would cherish it more."

Cherish a life like his? He would admit the past year had been a wonderful, happy dream, but today had proven the peace was only temporary. Somehow, Shigaraki had managed to weaponize ghouls. Or, more likely, Sensei had, but he had put Shigaraki's hands on the trigger. Although Mikumo had told Naomasa everything he could about Nomu's abilities he was as clueless as the police and heroes were about how the artificial-ghoul had gotten those abilities.

What he did know was that if Sensei could make one, he could make more.

How long would it be before Shigaraki had a horde of human-eating monsters at his disposal? Before the general population actually knew what ghouls were? Before being a ghoul no longer meant living quietly in the shadows eating cadavers in secret but instead meant being an actual threat to humanity?

If he hadn't failed four years ago, if he'd managed to get it right and kill himself back then...

Suddenly Mikumo was enveloped in warmth, strong arms wrapped around him, holding him close.

"Young Izuku," All Might said, "don't forget there are people who would be unbelievably sad if you were gone. I'm one of them."

This time, Mikumo didn't attempt to pull away. He couldn't, his racing thoughts freezing him in place. He knew he could have gotten All Might in trouble by running off and fighting, and he'd felt a bit guilty for that, but All Might made it sound like that hadn't even entered his mind.

...Of course it wouldn't. All Might was the number one hero for a reason. He was just so _good_. Once again Mikumo was struck by the thought that he didn't deserve All Might's kindness.

"I'm sorry," Mikumo finally said after a long pause. "I... won't do that again."

So he said, but Mikumo didn't know if he'd really be able to hold himself to those words.

* * *

Katsuki didn't go straight home that day after Recovery Girl released him. Instead after he got off the train at Tatooin Station he turned and started walking in the direction of Dagobah Municipal Beach Park.

Despite its name, the beach park was a dump. Water currents carried refuse tossed into the ocean to that beach and it had been left to rot for years. Katsuki had started visiting it after the start of middle school when he needed to let off steam.

And today, he really needed to let off steam.

( _"A-a-are y-you ok-kay?" Mikumo's voice sounds rough and wet. He's bleeding and shaking and... asking if Katsuki is okay?_ )

Katsuki blew up an old refrigerator, taking satisfaction in the way it flew into the air and came crashing down several meters away on top of a rusted bicycle.

( _"Hey, leave him alone! Can't you see he's crying?" Emo Kid shouts, glaring daggers at the bullies. "Three against one isn't a fair fight! If you keep bullying him, I won't forgive you!"_ )

A couch was next, flames licking at the mold-eaten scraps of fabric after Katsuki was done with it.

Katsuki thought that once he was out of the nurse's office and had some time to get his thoughts in order he would be able to get that shitty nerd out of his head and calm down. He wasn't. If anything, that emo freak's obnoxious face stayed stuck firmly in his mind.

( _This close, Katsuki can see how green Mikumo's eyes are. How many freckles dot this kid's pale cheeks. Just like... It's eerie how similar this kid is to Deku_.)

With a deafening blast, an entire pile of rubbish went flying back towards the ocean, steam rising as the flaming bits of metal and cardboard hit the water. The ocean currents would just carry them back to the shore, so Katsuki didn't care.

Katsuki was furious. At Mikumo for reminding him of a certain shitty, _dead_ nerd who wasn't supposed to be so weak that he'd be beaten by something like bullying, and for having the nerve to come running to protect Katsuki anyway. At himself for not being fast enough to get out of the way of Nomu's attack before that emo freak felt the need to jump in. At himself for not being strong enough to kill Nomu before it managed to beat the shit out of him and his shitty classmates who'd spent the entire bus ride to the USJ letting him know just how villainous they thought he was. At himself for needing to be saved by Frog Face before Nomu crushed him under its foot like he wasn't anything more than a worthless bug.

Another explosion destroyed an already broken television set.

UA was supposed to be an escape. He'd gotten out of his tiny, hodunk middle school, entered the big leagues where he belonged. He was supposed to feel more powerful than ever. At every turn something or someone was waiting to make him feel weak.

Weak weak wea _k wea **k weak**_ ** _!_**

Too weak to beat a shitty sludge villain. Too weak to save himself from Nomu. Too weak to deal with some infuriating, pitying looks from a certain quirkless loser and too weak to stop that same quirkless loser from taking a swan dive off of a roof.

The next explosion ignited a fire that engulfed an entire pile of trash.

And to top it all off, that emo freak had the nerve to come crashing into his life, say and do all the right things to make Katsuki think of the one person he kept trying to forget, and then after all of that turn around and turn out to be a ghoul that killed and ate people without a second thought. Mikumo had no right to run around acting all timid and scared like Deku used to.

Emo Freak wasn't weak, even if he tried to make people think he was. He was strong enough to fight a villain that had pro heroes freezing in their tracks, strong enough to near-fatally injure the monster that took down Aizawa, strong enough to _kill_.

Another explosion. And another, and another. Katsuki wasn't keeping track of what he was destroying anymore.

 _'Stronger than you, that's for sure,_ ' the Voice jeered. Katsuki tried to drown it out by destroying an old tire, an empty oil drum, a stained mattress. ' _Because when it came down to it, you held back, didn't you? You couldn't bring yourself to seriously try to kill Nomu, even when your life was in danger._ '

Explosion after explosion rang in his ears, but it wasn't enough to silence the voice.

' _Mikumo wouldn't have hesitated in your position. From the very beginning he was ready to do what he had to in order to survive. Yeah, he couldn't beat that thing on his own, but at least he wasn't a coward who held back._ '

The explosions were getting bigger, smoke replacing the air in his lungs, arms and shoulders aching from the constant impact, palms red and blistered from the heat. Still, he showed no signs of stopping.

' _I wonder what Izuku would have said? He would have fought that thing with everything he had, that's for sure, even if he couldn't actually do anything. Even if it killed him._ '

His eyes were wet. Sweat poured down his forehead, soaked his clothes, plastered down his hair.

 _'But you couldn't even kill one monster. Why? Because you're afraid of being a murderer?_ '

Katsuki aimed his outstretched palms at a particularly tall, lopsided mound of garbage.

' _Because you're afraid of being what you already are?_ '

"SHUT UP!"

Katsuki's arms burned as he let off the biggest explosion his he could muster; the sound pierced his eardrums and reverberated through his skull, light and smoke stinging his eyes as he blew a mountain of garbage and sand towards the ocean.

For what felt like an eternity, Katsuki was numb. The world had gone blessedly silent, and even the Voice had disappeared.

But then reality ensued. A dull buzz rose from somewhere and Katsuki became slowly aware if the intense pain in his hands. As he inspected them he found his palms bloody and raw from his own explosion.

Fuck.

Shit.

He was going to catch hell from his mom when he got home. From Aizawa when classes resumed.

It was a good thing classes were cancelled the next day.

* * *

It was a good thing classes that day were cancelled.

Mikumo was relieved to be dressed more comfortably in his black All Might hoodie - of which he now owned five - and jeans. He was also relieved to be far away from UA. He still held a great deal of admiration and respect for the school, but between the people staring at him, Midnight trying to hug him, and Katsuki trying to blow up his head by glaring at him, Mikumo was glad to have a moment to relax.

Most people probably wouldn't have found going to visit someone in the hospital 'relaxing,' but in comparison to everything else that had happened that week, Mikumo thought it was.

"Ah, hello Yagi-san! Akatani-kun!" the receptionist chimed when they came in. Not the same one who had been working there when Mikumo was admitted last year. "Here to visit your mother again?"

Shyly, Mikumo nodded, clutching the paper bag with his mother's new book tightly in his hand.

It wasn't long before a nurse arrived - he also hadn't been working there a year ago - to escort the two of them to Inko's room. As he had every time prior, Toshinori lingered int he doorway while Mikumo freely let himself in, pulling up the stool beside her bed. Inko's eyes lit up the moment she saw her son, gaunt cheeks stretched thin by her small smile. She was doing much better these days, but she was still struggling to regain the weight she'd lost in three years of not knowing where her son was.

"Izuku! You're early!" she chimed happily as Mikumo wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace which she warmly returned. Inko was the only one who could get away with calling him by his real name every time. With a few rare exceptions, Toshinori was ignored every time he tried to use the boy's real name. "Something didn't happen at UA, did it?"

At that, she sent a pointed look at Toshinori who began to sweat nervously.

"No, just a teacher workday," Mikumo lied easily. Despite the moment's relief he felt, Toshinori made a mental note to talk to him about that later. "I brought you a present!"

Excitedly, Mikumo pulled the gift out of its bag and presented it to his mother. Toshinori watched fondly as Inko's face lit up at the beautifully decorated cover. Although he wasn't familiar with the author, he found he rather liked the watercolor flowers that decorated the cover of each of their books. He thought about picking them up himself, despite Mikumo's insistence that the books were not about flowers.

"Dance of the Demise!" Inko read the title aloud. Nope, definitely not about flowers. "I've been looking forward to this! Thank you Izuku!"

Mikumo beamed, scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"I'm glad you like it, but Yagi-san's the one who actually bought it. I just picked it out."

"Is that right?" Gentle green eyes turned on Toshinori. "Thank you, Yagi-san. That was very kind of you."

Toshinori shook his head, now looking a bit sheepish himself.

"Oh no, not at all! I'm happy to help in any way I can, Midoriya-san."

Smiling, she gestured for him to come over.

"You don't need to hang back, Yagi-san," she insisted. "You look tired. You should sit."

A bit reluctantly, he did so, pulling up a stool and taking a seat near her bed as well, though he kept a little more distance from her and Mikumo out of respect.

"Izuku hasn't been causing you any trouble, has he?" she asked almost jokingly. Toshinori cracked a smile.

"Of course not. You've raised a wonderful son, Midoriya-san," he assured her. "Although he still won't let me call him by his real name."

Mikumo shrugged.

"Hey mom, Yagi-san let me go to USJ yesterday."

Both Toshinori's and Inko's eyes shot wide for entirely different reasons.

"You took my son to Universal Studios Japan!?" Inko exclaimed, shooting up in her bed while Mikumo giggled at her reaction.

"No no no! It stands for 'Unforeseen Simulation Joint.' It's one of the training facilities at UA," he explained.

From there he went on to talk about the layout of the training facility, describing in surprising detail the central plaza with its fountain and the flood zone, landslide zone, ruins zone, and storm zone that were visible from the main entrance. Inko listened enthusiastically, eyes lighting up when he shifted topics to the actual training exercises he'd witnessed and the amazing quirks of the students of class 1-A. Not once did he make any mention of the attack or villains.

When Toshinori thought about the things young Mikumo had gone through, the pain he suffered at the hands of those who wanted to use him and the self-loathing he still harbored because of his quirk, he was almost astounded that Mikumo had turned out to be so... kind. But then he saw the way Mikumo and Midoriya Inko interacted and it made sense. She was such an unbelievably kind woman, strong despite her frailty, willing to do anything for her child. For eleven years she had been terrified for her son. Unfortunately he had spent eleven years thinking she was terrified of him.

Now the two of them were smiling happily, making up for lost time. Toshinori's heart swelled at the sight. If only Inko had registered Mikumo's quirk years ago. If only whoever that doctor was that provided her and her son with human flesh hadn't intimidated her into thinking her son would be taken away and killed. Akira kept Toshinori up to date with her investigations, but unfortunately she had hit a dead end with that doctor.

No doubt she would want to hear everything Mikumo knew about Shigaraki Tomura and his mysterious sensei. Naomasa had written down every detail of what Mikumo said for her, but even so Toshinori predicted that they'd be receiving a 'surprise' visit from Mado Akira sooner or later. Likely 'sooner,' considering the nature of her investigation.

It wasn't fair to the poor boy, Toshinori thought. After spending three years in the hands of villains Izuku had finally been found, but he couldn't return home, couldn't be with his mother outside of hospital visiting hours, couldn't even walk down the street unsupervised because of the things he'd been forced to do by Shigaraki Tomura.

And Shigaraki Tomura was still out there somewhere. According to what his students told him of the battle - and a little of what Toshinori had picked up himself during Mikumo's interview with Naomasa - Mikumo and Shigaraki seemed to have some kind of complicated relationship that went beyond that of 'boss' and 'underling.' Eijiro especially seemed concerned by it, mentioning to the police that Shigaraki reminded him of a child who didn't want to share their favorite toy. Toshinori thought that seemed like an apt way to describe the teenager's behavior.

What scared him the most, however, wasn't that Shigaraki still seemed to be after Mikumo.

Toshinori wasn't an investigator, but he wasn't totally oblivious either. He'd paid attention to everything Mikumo said and did during his interview with Naomasa, paying special attention to his expression and body language. There was fear, but there was also pity - sympathy - whenever Mikumo spoke about Shigaraki. Despite freely offering Naomasa information that would, hopefully, lead to Shigaraki's arrest - plans, locations, contacts - he was tight-lipped about what exactly Shigaraki had done to him, saying only that Shigaraki could be kind and asking softly but sternly for Naomasa to please help Tomura.

What scared Toshinori the most was that he didn't think the relationship between Mikumo and Shigaraki was entirely one-sided.

* * *

( **Author's Note:** I'd say sorry for the delay, but honestly I'm more tired than sorry. Mid terms. This chapter was kind of fun to write because I wanted to expand a little on the relationship between Izuku/Mikumo and Shigaraki and show that it wasn't just about Shigaraki using him as an assassin. At this point I'd say Shigaraki sees him as something somewhere between 'best friend' and 'little sibling' and 'pet.' I also wanted to make it clear that it wasn't just a one-sided bond. Izuku/Mikumo didn't leave Shigaraki because he hated him, but because he thought it was best for both of them.

I want to say thank you again to everybody who reviewed, and I'd also like to give a special thanks to and share the artwork of Fortheloveofvector whose work you can find on tumblr! Danke danke!)


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